April 29, 2026: Dairy Week In Review

According to the most recent USDA Cold Storage report, March’s total natural cheese stocks increased 1 percent month over month but were down 2 percent year over year. Butter stocks climbed 13 percent from the prior month’s levels. However, they fell 11 percent from the same month the prior year. While cheese inventories remain more…

April 22, 2026: Dairy Week In Review

In the latest USDA Crop Progress Report, only about 1 percent of the estimated corn planting in Pennsylvania has been completed as of the week ending April 19. Across the 18 top corn producing states, 11 percent of the corn crop is in the ground, which is slightly above the five-year average for this week…

April 15, 2026: Dairy Week In Review

Based on the most recent USDA Livestock Slaughter report, U.S. dairy cull cows numbers are down 9,500 head from January’s 246,800 to 237,300 head in February. However, if you break it down further, January averaged 12,340 head slaughtered per non-holiday business days while February averaged 12,473 head. When compared to February 2025, February 2026’s dairy…

April 8, 2026: Dairy Week In Review

Based on the USDA Dairy Products report, total cheese output was 1.16 billion pounds, up 3.9 percent year over year. Italian-type cheese production increased by 6.8 percent from February 2025 to 506 million pounds in February 2026. American type cheese output totaled 451 million pounds, up 1.9 percent from the same time the prior year.

April 1, 2026: Dairy Week In Review

The USDA announced February’s margin at $8.46 per hundredweight (cwt) for the Dairy Margin Coverage program. At the $9.50 coverage level, participating dairies received an indemnity of $1.04 cents per cwt. For program year 2026, this will make the second consecutive month where the margin fell below the $9.50 trigger and resulted in payments. February’s…

March 24, 2026: Dairy Week In Review

Based on the USDA Dairy Products report, total cheese output was 1.16 billion pounds, up 3.9 percent year over year. Italian-type cheese production increased by 6.8 percent from February 2025 to 506 million pounds in February 2026. American type cheese output totaled 451 million pounds, up 1.9 percent from the same time the prior year.

March 18, 2026: Dairy Week In Review

For 2025, cheese consumption reached a new, record high, based on recent USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) data. American-style cheese domestic consumption did not reach 2023’s peak, but 2025 levels did slightly surpass 2024’s numbers. Consumption of other cheeses reached a new record high for the fifth year in a row. However, the increase in…

March 11, 2026: Dairy Week In Review

According to the USDA Dairy Products report, January 2026 butter output rose 6 percent year over year to 231.5 million pounds. In the Central region, butter production increased by 13.3 percent from the same month the prior year. Inventories remained low due to strong domestic demand and export sales. All of these factors contributed to…

March 4, 2026: Dairy Week In Review

Based on recently released U.S. Census Bureau data, dairy exports reached a three-year high in 2025. U.S. milk solids exports totaled 2.32 million metric tons (MT) and were valued at $9.63 billion, up 15 percent from the prior year’s levels, almost setting a new all-time record. As a result of dairy exports’ performance throughout 2025,…

February 25, 2026: Dairy Week In Review

In the February USDA Milk Production Report, the year-end U.S. data was released. For last year, the U.S. milk production totaled 232 billion pounds, a 2.6 percent increase from 2024’s total pounds. For 2025, the U.S. milk production total was revised upward 176 million pounds from January’s initial estimate. Looking back over the past ten…