August 25, 2020: Dairy Week In Review

Total milk production in the US is growing, up 1.5 percent from a year ago to 18.6 billion pounds. Production per cow is up 21 pounds to 1,994 pounds in July, while the number of milk cows in the nation’s dairy herd is up 37,000 head from a year ago to 9.35 million. Cow numbers…

August 19, 2020: Dairy Week In Review

Class III and IV milk futures prices on the CME fell hard this week, with more and more schools moving to remote. Class III price futures for the next three months are down $4.50 from where they were a month, now averaging $17.85 per hundredweight. Class IV milk prices for the next three months have…

August 12, 2020: Dairy Week In Review

US dairy exports in June were up from a year ago, increasing 28 percent by volume and 22 percent by value. The month caps off a first half of double-digit growth in dairy exports. US suppliers shipped 206,411 tons of dairy overseas, the most since April 2018, with the value of all exports at $583.7…

August 4, 2020: Dairy Week In Review

The US Agricultural Prices report indicated that the June all milk price of $18.10 per cwt is $4.50 higher than May but unchanged from June 2019. The June margin announced as part of the Dairy Margin Coverage Program was $9.99 per cwt., up $4.62 from May. Record negative PPDs reduced mailbox milk prices across most…

July 29, 2020: Dairy Week In Review

Natural cheese stocks fell 3 percent month-over-month to 1.416 billion pounds at the end of June, but remained at a record high for the month, up 2.6 percent from a year ago, according to USDA’S Cold Storage report. Butter stocks  also fell month-over-month by 4 percent to 361.6 million pounds, marking the largest May-to-June drawdown…

July 22, 2020: Dairy Week In Review

Class III prices for the next three months average $22.99 per hundredweight, while Class IV prices average $14.07 per cwt. This dramatic difference between Class III and Class IV prices is resulting in negative Producer Price Differentials for dairy farms. Simply put, PPD is the relationship of Class III value relative to the value of…

July 15, 2020: Dairy Week In Review

Block cheese prices fell hard on July 15, after being at record high levels.They fell 19 cents to $2.80 per pound, while butter fell 5.25 cents and cheese barrels remained flat. The falling cheese price sent August and September Class III prices down 75 cents, with the last half of 2020 now averaging $19.57 per…

July 8, 2020: Dairy Week In Review

USDA announced the June Class III milk price at $21.04 per hundredweight, up $8.90 from May and $4.77 above year-ago levels. The Class IV milk price was announced at $12.90 per cwt., up $2.23 from last month but down $3.93 from a year ago. Class III milk futures prices average $17.83 per cwt. for the…

June 30, 2020: Dairy Week In Review

USDA’s Cold Storage report shows total cheese stocks down 1.6 percent month-over-month to 1.45 billion pounds at the end of May. That counters historical trends for inventories to grow from April to May. Total cheese stocks were up 5 percent from a year ago, despite the 24-million-pound drawdown from April, the largest on record for…

June 24, 2020: Dairy Week In Review

Total milk production in the US fell 1 percent year-over-year to 18 billion pounds in May. Production per cow dropped 32 pounds per cow, while cow numbers were down 50,000 head from a year ago and 12,000 head from April. California’s milk production was down 1.5 percent, while Wisconsin fell 3.1 percent. Both Idaho and…