August 23, 2023: Dairy Week in Review

For the first time since May 2022, US total milk production is down, falling 0.5 percent in July to 19.075 billion pounds, with 13,000 head fewer cows in the nation’s dairy herd, now at 9.4 million head. Milk per cow nationally also fell, dropping 0.5 percent from a year ago to 2,029 pounds per cow….

August 16, 2023: Dairy Week in Review

The dairy price index on the latest Global Dairy Trade session fell 7.4 percent from the previous session to its lowest level since April 2020. The price fell to $2,875 per metric ton, marking the seventh consecutive session-to-session drop in the price. Whole milk powder prices fell 10.9 percent to a seven-year low, while skim…

August 9, 2023: Dairy Week In Review

The latest USDA Dairy Products report shows total cheese production up 0.4 percent from a year  ago to 1.17 billion pounds, but down 2.8 percent from May 2023. Hard cheeses saw the greatest  increases in production, with Parmesan output up 9.4 percent. Soft cheese production was down, with ricotta falling 9.5 percent from a year…

August 2, 2023: Dairy Week In Review

The June Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) margin was announced as $3.65 per hundredweight (cwt) (Table 1) and hit a record low for the second consecutive month. Indemnities were triggered at  all margin coverages ($4.00 up to $9.50 per cwt) for the first time in program history. The June Margin is $1.40 per cwt less than…

July 26, 2023: Dairy Week In Review

Total US milk production was down 0.1 percent in May, according to the latest USDA Milk Production Report, with 5,000 fewer head of  dairy cows and 1 pound more milk per day. California’s milk production was down 1.2 percent, while Wisconsin’s was up 1 percent. Idaho and New York were both up in milk production,…

July 19, 2023: Dairy Week In Review

The latest USDA Livestock, Dairy and Poultry Report left 2023 farm milk productions unchanged from last month at 228.4 billion pounds for the year. Forecasts for 2024 were lowered from last  month to 230.6 billion pounds, driven by a lower projected dairy herd and slower growth in milk per cow. The All-Milk price forecast for…

July 12, 2023: Dairy Week In Review

US dairy exports fell 13 percent year-over-year in May, with oversea shipments at the equivalent of 29,295 metric tons of milk solids. Nearly all products fell below prior-year levels. Cheese exports fell 18 percent, with US prices struggling to compete with global dairy prices right now. It was the largest year-to-year volume decline since 2015….

July 5, 2023: Dairy Week In Review

Further degradation of the Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) margin continued through May. On June 30, the May DMC margin was announced as $4.83 per cwt. This represents a record low, falling 20 cents below the previous low of $5.03 per cwt set in August of 2021. Based on June 30 DMC projections, feed costs are…

June 28, 2023: Dairy Week In Review

After a sizable drop in the Class III futures prices from April through May, Class III futures prices continued to decline through June. Based on June 26 closing prices it appears that Class III milk  price at $14.93 may close below $15 per cwt for the first month since it was $12.14 in May 2020….

June 21, 2023: Dairy Week In Review

US total milk production was up 0.6 percent year over year to 19.9 billion pounds in May. Production per cow was up 10 pounds, while the nation’s dairy herd was up 13,000 head to 9.43 million  head. The herd size remained flat from April 2023. Six out of the eight top producing dairy states showed…