The preliminary estimate of overall June milk production compared to a year earlier was unchanged to slightly lower in the U.S., and up just 0.2% in the major dairy states, the fourth straight month output was up less than 1% from a year ago.

Even with the fire loss, Texas cow numbers were up 5,000 head from a year ago.

The March 2023 USDA data summarizes milk production prior to the fire the killed an estimated 18,000 cows at South Fork Dairy in Dimmitt, Texas, on April 10.

The U.S. Department of the Interior on March 30 published a proposal that could shift priorities on 245 million acres of public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The rule would likely mark a sizable shift in BLM practices; according to an agency statement, it intends to put “conservation on equal footing with other uses,” which it says is “consistent with the BLM’s multiple use and sustained yield mission.”

California milk output was down despite increase in cow numbers.

Given its size, scope and geography, there are a range of issues facing the California dairy community. With attention spread across near-term financial challenges to longer-term environmental regulations, the state’s dairy producers are apprehensive at the start of 2023.