A helping hand

During her appearance in Congress, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told senators the administration’s supplemental farm assistance request is intended to help farmers weather today’s difficult economic conditions while longer-term policy changes take hold. Rollins cited rising input costs and declining commodity prices, noting seed costs have increased 19%, fertilizer more than 50% and fuel nearly 33% over the past five years. “Farmers want to farm for their products, not for a government check,” Rollins said. “They want to be free from dependency and free to innovate.” Rollins added the supplemental assistance provides “a bridge and extends a hand to Americans who need it.”

Annual USMCA review may be ‘positive’

Trade policy remains a major issue for agriculture as the United States begins annual reviews of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Compeer Financial Economist Dr. Megan Roberts said the dairy industry hopes to resolve longstanding trade issues with Canada while preserving the agreement’s broader benefits. “USMCA has had some challenges, particularly for dairy producers exporting to Canada,” Roberts said. “At the same time, it has created tremendous export opportunities. More than 17% of U.S. dairy production is exported, so maintaining good access to our No. 1 and No. 2 customers, Mexico and Canada, (respectively,) is extremely important.” Roberts remains hopeful the review process will strengthen the agreement. “Trade is really key for proteins in the U.S.,” she said. “I’m optimistic this annual review will ultimately have a positive outcome.”

NMPF pleased with tariff decision

The White House is imposing 50% tariffs on Canadian dairy imports. National Milk Producers Federation President and CEO Gregg Doud praised the decision, saying Canada’s unfair dairy trade practices “will no longer be tolerated.” U.S. dairy market access into Canada has been an ongoing issue.

GLP-1 trend ramps up protein demand

Heather Anfang, president of Land O’Lakes Dairy Foods, said the popularity of protein-rich foods has been building for years, and the growing use of GLP-1 weight loss medications has accelerated that trend. “It’s certainly driving a whole different conversation that consumers are having today,” Anfang said, noting that 12% of Americans are currently using GLP-1 medications, representing roughly one in five households. “There are some protein claims that you might see in the grocery store that make you scratch your head, but when we think about dairy and its unique, clean-label nutrition, people understand what’s in it.” Anfang said dairy is well-positioned to benefit from the trend, citing continued long-term growth in categories such as butter, cheese and yogurt.

Dry weather challenges for alfalfa growers

CROPLAN Alfalfa and Forage Specialist Jeff Jackson said the crop got off to an early start before cooler weather slowed development; “Will it grow or just stay dormant, or are we going to have a patchy, mangy, squirrel-looking field out there where we’re just going to have little patches everywhere? It looks like it’s going to be tough.” He said cattle producers are already looking at ways to stretch limited forage supplies.

Farmland values remain stable

Farmland values in North Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin increased 1.2% over the past six months and are up 4.2% from a year ago, according to the latest farm real estate benchmarking study from AgCountry Farm Credit Services, Farm Credit Services of America and Frontier Farm Credit. AgCountry Executive Vice President of Business Development Mark Vetter said the market remains stable despite fewer land sales. “I would characterize the market as a little bit thinner when I look at all three states today,” Vetter said. Producers continue to have strong balance sheets, allowing them to focus on long-term investments rather than short-term market conditions. “These land purchase decisions are not about today; they’re about the long-term outlook in agriculture,” Vetter said. AgCountry Farm Credit Services, Farm Credit Services of America and Frontier Farm Credit conduct the farm real estate benchmarking study every six months.

June milk production up 2.4%

Milk production in the 24 major dairy states totaled 18.9 billion pounds, up 2.4% from June 2025. In Minnesota, milk output rose 2.6% with cow numbers up 8,000 head from a year ago. In South Dakota, milk production is up 5.6%. The size of the cow herd increased 12,000 head.

Cold storage report released

In the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s June cold storage report, butter inventories were reported at just over 332 million pounds. That is down nearly 7% from one year ago. American cheese inventories topped 14 million pounds, down 1.7%, while the other-than-American cheese inventories increased 0.4% from a year ago. Total cheese inventories were at 1.4 billion pounds, down 11.8 million pounds or 0.8%.

Rising stress levels

Weather challenges, financial uncertainty and harvest preparations are increasing stress levels across farm country. Minnesota Rural Mental Health Specialist Monica McConkey said more farmers are seeking help as these pressures converge. “Whether it’s drought, too much rain, prices, you name it, it’s really coming to a head as we head into harvest,” McConkey said. “We’re seeing a lot of anxiety, feelings of hopelessness and stress in general.” McConkey encourages farmers to recognize warning signs — including trouble sleeping, changes in appetite, strained family relationships and persistent headaches — before stress becomes overwhelming.

Rep. Shontel Brown voices interest in ag committee leadership

With Minnesota Rep. Angie Craig running for the U.S. Senate, there is an opening for the next Democratic lead for the House Agriculture Committee. Ohio Congresswoman Shontel Brown has made it known that she wants the job. Brown represents a suburban Cleveland district and has concentrated on nutrition and food safety programs during her time on the ag committee.

Hall of Fame honors for Frazer, Cassidy

The National Association of Farm Broadcasting has named Rita Frazer and Tom Cassidy as the 2026 inductees into the NAFB Hall of Fame. Frazer is audio news manager for the Illinois Farm Bureau’s marketing and communications division and served as NAFB president in 2020. Cassidy, who recently retired as farm director and general manager at Ag Radio Network Inc. in Barneveld, New York, was the association’s president in 2018. They will be honored during the NAFB convention in November.

From Agri-Pulse to Farm Credit

Lydia Johnson has joined the Farm Credit Council as its new policy communications manager. For the past two years, Johnson has been a reporter for Agri-Pulse Communications Inc.

Trivia challenge

A total of 22 million animals is registered by the Holstein Association USA Inc. There are more than 370,000 new registrations each year. That answers our last trivia question. For this week’s trivia, what was the record number of Holsteins registered in one year? We’ll have the answer in our next edition of the Dairy Star.

Don Wick is owner/broadcaster for the Red River Farm Network of Grand Forks, North Dakota. Wick has been recognized as the National Farm Broadcaster of the Year and served as president of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting. Don and his wife, Kolleen, have two sons, Tony and Sam, and five grandchildren, Aiden, Piper, Adrienne, Aurora and Sterling.