What a year! Between political changes, policy uncertainties, the bird flu outbreak in 17 states (as of mid February), new dairy processing facilities starting to come online, milk prices rising and the USDA finalizing changes to the Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO), the last 12 months have been a bit of a rollercoaster. However, it’s exciting that the outlook for 2025 looks much brighter than one year ago.
As I talked with dairy producers and industry leaders across the country for this year’s State of Dairy coverage, every single person mentioned the improved on-farm financial margins. Many producers are finally getting to catch their breath and think toward the future instead of worrying about how they will pay the bills this month. Some of the other bright spots include expansion opportunities, diversification, beef-on-dairy, technology, artificial intelligence, increased profitability, new dairy processing facilities, growth and sustainability. A noteworthy bright spot is the dairy industry in the Southeast, especially in Florida and Georgia. According to Travis Senn with Southeast Milk Inc. (SMI), they are experiencing a “level of optimism they haven’t seen in years.”
New dairy processing facilities that have been in the works for the last few years started coming online in 2024, and many others are scheduled to begin taking milk in 2025 and over the next few years. Check out the map that shows this timeline and the types of products these new plants will produce.
However, despite all the areas of optimism, there are still some challenges. Uncertainties around federal policies like immigration and tariffs are still major concerns, as well as another potential outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI or bird flu) this spring as many dairies – especially those in California – are still recovering from the 2024 outbreak. California has been hit hard by HPAI since the state’s first confirmed case in dairy cattle in late August 2024, with 747 of the state’s approximately 950 dairy farms affected, as of Feb. 20.
While there were similarities between how different states managed the HPAI outbreak with mandatory testing, quarantines and other requirements, there was no one-size-fits-all approach from state veterinarians. I talked with five state veterinarians and animal health officials from the states most impacted by the outbreak over the last 12 months – California, Texas, Idaho, Michigan and Colorado. Read about the timeline of their first cases, the guidance they provided to affected and unaffected dairies to limit spread and exposure, and about the restrictions on cattle movement and other testing. Thanks to these five animal health officials for sharing these insights with us.
One thing stood out to me as I was writing the State of Dairy articles this year: There were more similarities between regions than I’ve seen in the last few years. Therefore, you are going to see some common threads woven throughout all the articles.
I don’t want to completely spoil it for you, so check out what dairy producers and industry leaders had to say in 2025.
Thank you to those who took the time to chat with me about State of Dairy this year. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts and insights with me and, in turn, with our readers.
For those I didn’t talk with, I’d love to hear what you are most excited about in 2025. Send me an email.
I’m excited to see what the rest of 2025 will bring, and especially the opportunities it will provide for our industry. Cheers to a great year.
