dairy farmers

Dairy processors would pay farmers more for fresh milk that is destined for table consumption — perhaps totaling $800 million a year — under a set of recommendations from the Agriculture Department on Monday. The "recommended decision" to update the milk marketing system needs USDA final approval after a comment period and must win in a referendum by milk producers to take effect.

The U.S. dairy industry is aiming to go greenhouse gas neutral by 2050. Researchers have many ideas to help get them there — from feed additives that minimize methane-filled cow burps to new timing for fertilizer applications. But there’s little data on how well many of these strategies work on actual dairies with varying environmental conditions. (No paywall)

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue will release the first episode of his own podcast today — a chat with former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who describes how much President Trump “loves America’s farmers and ranchers.”

In a state losing two dairy farms a day, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said on Tuesday that it’s hard to make a living with a small herd of cows. The “economies of scale having happened in America—big get bigger and small go out,” Perdue said at a dairy show in Wisconsin, in comments …

A collection of dairy farmers who allege anti-competitive conduct by the nation's largest dairy cooperative will take their case to a jury trial. A U.S. district court judge late last week denied a motion for summary judgment — which would have wrapped the case up without trial — from defendant Dairy Farmers of America (DFA).(No paywall)

Last week, Dean Foods announced it was canceling its contracts with more than 100 independent, conventional dairy farmers. The farmers, who are located in eight states, will have until May 31 to find a new market for their milk. Meanwhile, dairy prices are plummeting across the country. (No paywall)