Milk Messenger: Michigan Milk Producers Association's Member Magazine
Profile updated November 2026
Milk Messenger is the member magazine of the Michigan Milk Producers Association (MMPA), the dairy cooperative headquartered in Novi, Michigan. First published as the Michigan Milk Messenger in 1919, just three years after the cooperative itself was formed, it is one of the oldest continuously published cooperative dairy magazines in the Midwest.
| First published | 1919, as the Michigan Milk Messenger |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Michigan Milk Producers Association |
| Cooperative founded | 1916, at Michigan Agricultural College |
| Home | Novi, Michigan |
| Frequency | Bimonthly combined issues (for example, November/December 2025) |
| Membership area | Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin |
| Official website | MiMilk.com |
History of Milk Messenger
The Michigan Milk Producers Association was organized in 1916 at Michigan Agricultural College, now Michigan State University, by dairy farmers who wanted collective bargaining power in the milk market. Three years later, in 1919, the cooperative began publishing the Michigan Milk Messenger to keep its members informed about prices, markets and cooperative business.
The magazine grew along with MMPA. The cooperative built and acquired processing plants, including facilities in Ovid and Constantine, Michigan, and today its member-owned plants in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio include Superior Dairy and the Middlebury Cheese Company. In 2025 MMPA reacquired a plant in Remus, Michigan. The magazine has documented each of these steps for members.
Over the decades the title was shortened to Milk Messenger, and in recent years it moved from monthly issues to combined bimonthly editions. MMPA also marked its centennial, and a 2023 organizational restructuring of the cooperative won unanimous member support, a change covered in the magazine's pages.
Milk Messenger Today
Milk Messenger now appears as bimonthly issues such as January/February and November/December, published in print for members and posted as digital flipbooks on Issuu. Selected articles also run in the newsroom section of the MMPA website, where readers can subscribe.
Recent features include a July/August 2025 profile of Sheila Burkhardt, MMPA's Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, who received the 2025 Michigan Dairy Industry Service Award after joining the cooperative in 1988. The magazine also carries leadership columns, a Milk Minute feature, and coverage of animal health issues such as highly pathogenic avian influenza in dairy herds.
What Milk Messenger Is Publishing Now
Cooperative business
Board decisions, annual meeting reports, plant news and market updates from MMPA's leadership and its 13 farmer directors.
Member farms
Profiles of member families, quality awards and on-farm practices across the four-state membership area.
Industry and policy
Milk pricing, animal health, dairy promotion and state and federal policy affecting Michigan dairy farmers.
Milk Messenger Editors and Staff
MMPA leaders and contributors named in recent Milk Messenger coverage include:
- Joe Diglio - President and CEO, MMPA
- Doug Chapin - Board Chairman, MMPA
- Sheila Burkhardt - Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, MMPA
- Mikayla Bowen - Writer, Milk Messenger (bylined 2025)
Subscriptions, advertising, freelance submissions and classified ads are handled through the magazine section of the MMPA website.
Who Reads Milk Messenger
Readers are MMPA's roughly 2,000 member dairy farmers, along with cooperative staff, allied businesses and dairy advocates. Michigan is a major milk state: USDA NASS reported 1.02 billion pounds of Michigan milk in December 2024 from 440,000 cows, with output per cow of 2,315 pounds, well above the average for the 24 major dairy states.
Milk Messenger readers have been reading about milk prices since 1919, so they have probably earned a laugh or two. Michigan dairy families can find it at farm.FM, which publishes farm satire, farm humor and a little ranch humor in a straight-faced rural voice. Its farm jokes travel well from a Novi annual meeting to a Thumb-area milking parlor.
farm.FM got there first as the nation's first satirical farm site, and it backs the writing with Tractor Tunes, country music for farmers. Here is one contributor's collection of farm satire to start with.
Milk Messenger Sources and Agriculture Authority Links
- MMPA: About the Cooperative - history, members and plants of the cooperative.
- Milk Messenger: Leading with Humility - a 2025 feature from the magazine.
- USDA NASS Michigan: Milk production - Michigan monthly milk and cow numbers.
- USDA ERS: Dairy - national dairy markets and outlook.
- Milk Messenger on Issuu - digital edition of the November/December 2025 issue.
Milk Messenger FAQ
Who publishes Milk Messenger?
The Michigan Milk Producers Association, a dairy cooperative headquartered in Novi, Michigan.
When was Milk Messenger first published?
In 1919, as the Michigan Milk Messenger, three years after MMPA was formed in 1916.
How often does Milk Messenger come out?
It now publishes combined bimonthly issues, also posted online as digital flipbooks.
Can non-members subscribe to Milk Messenger?
MMPA offers subscriptions and an email list through the magazine section of its website.
More than a century after its first issue, Milk Messenger still carries the cooperative's news to Michigan dairy farms six times a year.