December 20, 2023: Dairy Week in Review

Total milk production across the US was down 0.6 percent in November, according to the latest USDA Milk Production Report, falling to 18.08 billion pounds. Total cow numbers fell 44,000 head, or about 0.5 percent, to 9.36 million head, down another 10,000 head from October’s revised number. Milk production per cow in the US was…

December 13, 2023: Dairy Week in Review

Total US dairy exports shipped overseas was down 6.6 percent on a milk solids basis in October, which is the smallest year over year decline since March. Year over year cheese exports were down 4 percent in October, with shipments into Japan and Korea down 40 percent year over year. Cheese shipments into Mexico were…

December 6, 2023: Dairy Week in Review

USDA announced the October margin under the Dairy Margin Coverage Program at $9.44 per hundredweight, just six cents under the maximum $9.50 margin coverage level. It’s up 10 cents from September’s margin and the highest this year. It is still $1.27 below margins from a year ago and will result in an indemnity payment of…

November 29, 2023: Dairy Week in Review

In USDA’s latest Cold Storage Report, butter stocks fell 11 percent from September and 1 percent from a year ago to 238.28 million pounds. September butter stocks were also revised to their lowest level for any September since 2017. Cheese stocks also declined seasonally in October, falling 1 percent from September but up 1 percent…

November 21, 2023: Dairy Week in Review

According to the latest USDA Milk Production report, US milk production is down for the fourth month in a row after six months of growth. October’s milk production was down 0.5 percent to 18.71 billion pounds, with a 1-pound decrease in milk production per cow for the month and 42,000 fewer milking cows in the…

November 15, 2023: Dairy Week in Review

The latest USDA World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report could point to more manageable feed costs in the coming year. The report released last week increased the national average yield for corn by 1.9 bushels to 174.9 bu/acre, which was enough to increase the projected US corn production to a new record high of…

November 8, 2023: Dairy Week in Review

USDA Dairy Products report shows output of most dairy products growing in September, compared to a year ago levels. Cheese production was up 0.1 percent year over year to 1.152 billion pounds, while production of American-type cheese was up 4.2 percent and Cheddar cheese production was up 3.1 percent. After decreasing in August, September’s butter…

November 1, 2023: Dairy Week in Review

USDA announced September’s DMC Margin at $8.44 per hundredweight, up $2.02 from August and the highest payment this year. The margin resulted in a $1.06 per cwt indemnity payment, or about $839 per one million pounds of production history. The all-milk price was up $1.30 from July to $21.00 per cwt. in September, while feed…

October 25, 2023: Dairy Week in Review

Total milk production across the US was essentially flat in September, according to the latest USDA Milk Production report, with the nation’s dairy herd producing 17.465 billion pounds. Average milk production per cow was up 3 pounds from a year ago, while the nation’s dairy herd lost 16,000 head in the past 12 months. The…

October 18, 2023: Dairy Week in Review

USDA’s latest production numbers indicate we may have hit a floor in what we can expect for feed costs right now. The agency released its World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report last week and cut yield expectations for both corn and soybeans. The average yield per acre for corn was decreased by 0.5 percent…