Milk producers and handlers supplying the Appalachian Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) cover five states: Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Like their neighbors to the south, they share similar concerns and diverse outlooks.

Running through the heart of the north-central U.S. and bordering three of the nation’s 24 major dairy states, Interstate 29 (I-29) is a strong vein from which to measure the pulse of the industry.

Beyond sharing Great Lakes’ shorelines, dairy producers in Indiana, Michigan and Ohio have a lot in common. Most were aided by the wave of higher milk prices in 2022, putting them in their best financial positions in years.

Milk produced and marketed in the 11 states in the southeastern U.S. is pooled on the Appalachian, Southeast and Florida Federal Milk Marketing Orders (FMMOs).

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While most of NMPF recommendations were approved last October, a specific recommendation related to Class I pricing differentials has taken longer to develop.

Just 424 out of nearly 3.7 million milk samples tested positive for animal drug residues in the FDA’s annual analysis. Those samples testing positive were rejected for human consumption. That works out to be only one out of every 8,702 samples.

The number of milk cows on U.S. farms was estimated at 9.42 million head in November, the highest number since August 2021.

Class IV pooling across all FMMOs represented about 7% of the total milk pooled. It was the ninth month so far in 2022 that Class IV pooling was below 10% of total milk pooled.