The U.S. dairy markets have grown increasingly reliant on exports as production outpaces local demand growth. That trajectory is unlikely to change anytime soon. Estimates suggest that between 15% and 20% of U.S. milk production moves internationally. With that global picture in mind, the U.S. dairy industry needs to continue positioning itself for an increasingly…
The value of components determines the milk pay price for most Northeast dairy producers. Component prices have been much discussed in the past few months, with some observers suggesting that we now produce more butterfat than markets can absorb. It’s true that the national average butterfat test of farm milk has grown from 3.6% to…
July can bring a little calm in the summer chaos, with the spring forages harvested, the corn in the ground, and any straw now baled and put away. With the warmer weather, it often represents the season for painting barns, tending to the wear and tear on facilities, and trimming back overgrown hedge rows. It…
For the Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program, the USDA announced May’s margin to be $10.62 per hundredweight (cwt), a high so far for the 2026 program year. With the margin being $1.12 per cwt above the $9.50 trigger, no indemnities were paid to participating dairies. May’s margin was 8 cents above the prior month’s $10.54…
U.S. dairy prices looked very different in the first half of 2026 than market analysts expected at the start of the year. Class IV values, in particular, outperformed expectations as supply constraints in the nonfat dry milk market and healthy export demand pushed prices higher. But over the past 30 days, dairy pricing has shifted…
Based on the most recent Milk Production report, the U.S. dairy industry continues its rapid upward growth. The U.S. production totaled 20.6 billion pounds for May, a 2.3% increase from May 2025. Averaging 2,128 pounds, May’s monthly output per cow experienced a modest 8-pound growth year over year, and the U.S. milking herd reached a…
The one thing that is inevitable in commodity markets is what goes up must come down, and what comes down will go up again. That is holding true as 2026 continues to unfold. In January, we saw Class III and IV milk prices fall dramatically, with the all-milk price dropping to $17.50 per hundredweight (cwt)…
“One of our greatest strengths is the group of people sitting around this table!” This statement came from Harold, a dairy farmer in Pennsylvania. The people sitting around his table included his veterinarian, nutritionist, banker, accountant, agronomist, Harold and his wife, and me.
For the Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program, the USDA an nounced April’s margin to be $10.54 per hundredweight (cwt), a high for program year 2026 so far. With the margin being $1.04 per cwt above the $9.50 trigger, no indemnities were paid out to participating dairies.
Every dairy farmerrecognizes the problems with heat stress: reduced milk production, depressed feed intake, and panting cows. These signs appear quickly, and the production loss can be easily measured. As heat stress persists, it becomes difficult to get cows pregnant, and lameness often increases. Current practices do not eliminate heat stress but aim to minimize…
