Milk Production Up, Dollars Down & Raising the Smoking Age

Milk Production Up, Dollars Down & Raising the Smoking Age. I'm Greg Martin with Washington Ag Today.

The dairy industry is expected to produce a record 211.8 billion pounds of milk and while that is good news for the industry, the other side of the coin is dollars paid to producers is looking a bit bleak.

MEYER: So a little bit of a lower expectation for milk prices.

That's Seth Meyer, USDA Outlook Chairman says that about 1 1/2% more than last year. But he also says that price prospects are lower now than they were just a month ago.

MEYER: We did make some adjustments this month and the softening of milk price softened it about 60 cents and that's giving us an all milk price of $15.75.

That's down $1.33 from last year. Depending on feed prices and demand margins may wind up getting trimmed just a bit.

A new poll released yesterday shows an overwhelming 65 percent of Washingtonians support raising the sale age of tobacco to 21. This result shows clear public support for Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson's proposal to raise the legal age to purchase tobacco and vapor products to 21. Washington has long been at the forefront of the fight to protect youth from the dangers of smoking. Continuing that leadership role, Ferguson's proposal would make Washington the second state, after Hawaii, to raise the legal tobacco sale age to 21.

And that's Washington Ag Today. I'm Greg Martin, thanks for listening on the Ag Information Network of the West.