Dairy Dispatch
38 Workers Gone in Days: Why H-2A’s 350-Day Fix Falls 15 Days ShortOne I-9 audit took Drumgoon Dairy from 50-plus workers to 16. Washington just opened H-2A to dairy—but it caps at 350 days, and milking never stops. W […]- $262,000 a Year, Gone: The USDA Formula Change No Milk Check ExplainsUSDA reset make allowances June 1, 2025, and quietly pulled ~90¢/cwt from Class III/IV. On 1,000 cows, that's about $262,000 a year — and no line on y […]
- Cotton Convinced RFK Jr. It’s “Healthy” – Why Is Dairy Silent on 13% of the Milk Aisle?A May 2026 federal plan rebranded a pesticide-heavy crop as the "natural choice." Real milk fits the Make America Healthy Again script better — and th […]
- The Beef Check You Banked in 2023 Is the $3,010 Heifer You Can’t Afford in 2026A day-old beef calf paid you a few hundred bucks in 2023. The dairy heifer it replaced now runs $3,010 — up 75% in 27 months. CoBank's Corey Geiger sa […]
- Dairy Got the Visa Win. Its Workers Got a $2 Billion Pay CutDairy spent years lobbying for H-2A access and finally got it on June 17. Same stretch, a Fresno court let a $2B wage cut stand — and the undocumented […]
Feature Articles
- Your 110-Cow Herd Loses $90,000 a Year at $20.70 Milk. Here’s Why You Don’t QuitAt $42.70 to make and $20.70 to sell, even a tight 110-cow herd erodes ~$90K a year. The chain above runs smoother when you d […]
- Canada vs. USA: The Dairy Border War Where One Side’s Fighting Over a Nickel and the Other’s Ignoring $3 MillionThe CUSMA review lit the fuse on July 1, 2026 — but the fight that decides which farms survive isn't at the border. It's a ni […]
- Steve Jaeger’s $511 Fresh Cow Problem – And the Hidden $111‑Per‑Cow Fix 4,495 Cows Just ProvedAn 8‑farm, 4,495‑cow trial shows how changing fresh‑cow and dry‑off protocols can turn metritis costs and withdrawal milk int […]
- −$8,776 a Year for Seven Years: The Real Cash-Flow Curve Behind Your Dairy’s Robot NoteOn a 140-cow herd, that −$8,776/year robot valley isn't theory — it's seven milk checks' worth of red ink before the dealer's […]
- They Called Mogul’s Heifers Fat. Then Came the Million Doses.They mocked Mountfield SSI Dcy Mogul-ET for siring "fat heifers"—then his daughters made him the youngest millionaire in Sele […]
