Farmers struggling with low milk prices find little help from safety net

Dave Schwartz has been milking cows full-time for nearly 60 years, through boom times and busts. And since the late 1950s, he’s seen a lot of both. He tries to keep an optimistic outlook, but that’s been a difficult thing to do lately, as milk prices fall — prices in 2018 so far are nearing a two-year low.
By: Mark Steil
Source: Minnesota Public Radio
Link: https://www.mprnews.org/story/2018/01/18/farmers-struggling-against-low-milk-prices-find-little-help

US Secretary of Agriculture takes milk break at King Brothers Dairy

NORTHUMBERLAND — Farmers talked taxes, trade, minimum wage, hemp and the future of farming on Monday as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue visited King Brothers Dairy Farm.
By: ADAM COLVER
Source: The Post-Star
Link: http://poststar.com/news/local/us-secretary-of-agriculture-takes-milk-break-at-king-brothers/article_b03b5d40-73bf-53df-8e0c-157d85f8d99a.html

Milk war worries

FARGO – Nearly half a century has passed since North Dakota’s last milk war. In those days, when dairy farmers couldn’t make enough to live, years before North Dakota’s Milk Marketing Board began setting prices, farmers dumped milk on the streets in protest. Shots were fired, fences cut, fires set.
By: C.S. Hagen
Source: High Plains Reader
Link: http://hpr1.com/index.php/feature/news/milk-war-worries/

Dairy producers positive at World Dairy Expo despite challenges

MADISON, Wis.—The mood was positive among dairy producers and industry representatives at the 51st annual World Dairy Expo earlier this month in Madison, Wis., despite the challenging market the last few years.
By: Michelle Rook
Source: Duluth News Tribune
Link: http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/4343975-dairy-producers-positive-world-dairy-expo-despite-challenges

Milk Deadline Quickly Approaching for Dozens of Wisconsin Farmers

Harrop explained Canadian dairy farmers created a new class price for milk protein concentrates to be competitive with the milk coming in from the US and now Canadian producers are using domestic products instead of buying them from the U.S. Trump spoke out against Canada on Tuesday in a way he’s not done before, saying […]

#AMPI reports $1.8 billion in sales

Associated Milk Producers Inc. (AMPI) recorded sales of $1.8 billion and earnings of $7.5 million in 2013. The annual business meeting of the cooperative – owned by 2,600 Upper Midwest dairy farmers – concludes March 25 in Bloomington, Minn.

#AMPI Sells Cheese and Pudding Operation

TreeHouse Foods has completed the acquisition of the aseptic cheese and pudding business from Associated Milk Producers (AMPI). AMPI’s aseptic cheese and pudding sells products to foodservice and retail customers. The business will be integrated with TreeHouse Foods, which also produces cheese and pudding products primarily for its Food Away From Home segment.