The USDA publishes an online calendar of release dates for its most common reports each month. The quickest way to find this calendar is to search for “USDA Report Calendar” in your Internet browser’s search bar. On Google, it is the first site that comes up. For example, dairy exports and dairy product disappearance are…
Last week, I wrote about new risk management resources available in print and online to help dairy farmers and their advisors navigate the sometimes-rough waters of understanding what programs are out there and how to use them to help mitigate milk price risk. In addition to risk management resources, the Center offers a wide variety…
As dairy markets continue to become more volatile and unpredictable, risk management will also become more crucial to managing through milk price downturns. As a teenager, I was old enough to start learning about dairy markets and the dairy economy as I was working alongside my father. Leading up to and through the 1990s, it…
October Class III and IV prices were announced earlier this month at $21.81 per cwt and $24.96 per cwt, respectively. These prices likely represented the peak prices for the foreseeable future. According to futures prices at market closing on Nov. 21, Class III and IV milk prices will be lower at $21.02 and $23.35, respectively,…
It is not unusual for Class III and Class IV milk prices to be inverse. However, it is relatively unusual that Class IV stays persistently higher. Class III and IV prices inverted last November when Class IV settled 76 cents more than Class III at $18.79 per cwt. Since then, Class IV has remained above…
I am sure you have heard this phrase at some point: “We’re in a world economy now.” The dairy industry is not and will not be immune to international influence especially as the U.S. becomes more reliant on the export market to disperse surplus milk supply. Exports lessen the impact of a domestic surplus on…
For the second month in a row and the second time this year, the September Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) margin triggered an indemnity. Announced earlier this week, the Sept. DMC margin was $8.62 per cwt. This is a 54 cents per cwt improvement over August but still well below the maximum $9.50 margin coverage. The…
According to milk futures prices as of the close of business on October 21, Class IV milk price is expected to remain higher than Class III prices the rest of this year and for all next year as well. At $21.82 and $24.88 per cwt, the October Class III and IV futures prices indicate that…
It’s that time of year again. Most of Pennsylvania, if not all of the state, has seen at least a light frost over the last week or two. I have mostly oak trees in my yard, and the leaves on these trees generally turn brown. With some yellow hickory leaves, and yellow, orange, and red…
The last time per capita dairy consumption was higher than 2021, Dwight Eisenhower was the president, and my Baby Boomer parents were not yet teenagers. Per capita consumption is defined as the annualized total dairy product consumption divided by the U.S. population. According to USDA data, per capita consumption was 672 pounds per person on…
