The largest dairy milk producer in the U.S. has begun Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, citing “a challenging operating environment marked by continuing declines in consumer milk consumption.”

The Trump administration’s trade assistance package and other government payments are keeping the farm economy afloat, while historically low interest rates are helping maintain agricultural land values, according to bankers and economists.

Krysta Harden, an Obama administration USDA official and veteran ag lobbyist, says consumer concerns over the environmental impact of dairy production aren’t going away any time soon.

Department of Agriculture officials are grappling with producer skepticism along with privacy and inadequate publicity concerns as signup for 2020 Dairy Margin Coverage begins.

Dean Foods says it plans to leave the International Dairy Foods Association, saying one of the company’s key priorities – how to approach plant-based dairy alternatives using traditional nomenclature – is “no longer shared by the entire IDFA organization.”

House Democrats are still far from ready to ratify President Donald Trump’s new version of the North American Free Trade Agreement, but their demands represent just one of the threats to implementation of the updated trade pact that would keep most agricultural tariffs at zero.