Christmas is near and with it brings the end of another year. A year that started off rough for milk prices but ends with the highest prices we have seen since 2014, providing much-needed relief to dairy farmers across the country. Next year looks even better, and if progress continues to be made with trade…
It is hard to believe that 2019 is almost in the books. The year started with low milk prices, but by summer, prices had risen to a breakeven or profitable rate for many U.S. dairy farmers. Milk price this year has not been good enough to make up for the last few years, but it…
December 10, 2018 marked the start of a new era for my family and me. That was my first day working for the Center for Dairy Excellence. I am coming up on my one-year anniversary of living and working in Pennsylvania. I grew up on my family’s dairy, and for 16 years, I was the…
It is hard to believe there is only one month left in 2019. The year started out with milk prices trending up, but still not at a breakeven or profitable price for most Pennsylvania dairy farmers. It looks like we will end the year with some of the highest prices we have seen since 2014….
Generally, government shutdowns are not good for U.S. citizens. However, the shutdown at the beginning of this year benefited dairy farmers because implementation of Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) was delayed. As a result, when DMC enrollment began in June, dairy farmers knew they would receive payments for January through April milk production. If enrolled at…
For the last several years a lot has been reported about declining fluid milk consumption. I do not want to belittle the importance of fluid milk sales to the U.S. dairy industry and what it could mean to milk checks if we can reverse the current trend. But, it is also important to look at…
Daylight saving time ended this past weekend, and we will continue to lose daylight until the Winter Solstice on December 21, when the daylight hours start to increase again. This time of year can be challenging for farming. When the longer days of summer are here, it does not seem like there are enough daylight…
The latest USDA Crop Progress report released on October 28 indicates the Pennsylvania corn crop was affected by the wet spring. The report shows that in the last week of October, only 89% of the corn crop has reached maturity as compared to the 5-year average of 97%. However, harvest is on par with the…
This article may seem strange coming from a native southerner, but I thought I would remind everyone to not let cold weather sneak up on you before you can properly winterize your dairy. I have lived in Pennsylvania since the first part of December 2018, so I have been here in the coldest part of…
The trade disputes with China and Mexico have dominated dairy export talk for much of the last year and a half. Luckily, over the same time period, milk production has increased at a slower rate than recent years, domestic demand for dairy has strengthened, and increased dairy exports to other countries have helped to offset…
