With the Spring Flush over in parts of the country and nearing the end in others, cream supplies are tighter than normal for this time of year. Production declines caused by year-over-year (YOY) reductions in cow numbers and stagnating per cow output, coupled with warmer temperatures across the country, have further limited milk production and…
U.S. milk production has declined year-over-year (YOY) every month this year mainly driven by YOY decreases in cow numbers. National milk production per cow has remained stagnate YOY most of the year. With warmer weather coming as summer approaches, it will be interesting to see what the national milk production trend will be for the…
Class IV milk price has increased month over month since Aug. 2021, surpassing Class III milk price in November 2021. For the third straight month, the April Class IV price, announced on May 4, set an all-time high at $25.31 per cwt. Since February, the spread between Class III and IV has been declining. The…
It seems to me that Southcentral Pennsylvania has been cooler this year than the previous three springs that I have been here. The latest USDA Crop Progress report published May 9 appears to confirm my personal observations. Spring planting of corn and soybeans is well behind last year and the 5-year average (2017-2021). Only the…
Inflation has been a common topic lately. It seems like every other article I see references inflation and is usually tied to rising food prices. During last week’s Protecting Your Profits webinar, Sam Miller, Managing Director of Agriculture Banking at BMO Harris Bank, talked about what is currently driving inflation and how that is affecting…
The arrival of spring always initiates the Spring Flush each year. Although we are currently in the midst of the Spring Flush, total milk production across the country through March is declining compared to last year. Due to several factors, milk futures prices seem to have stagnated or declined somewhat. As a result, Class III…
The amount of fat in the American diet and its effects on health have been hotly contested since the 1970s with fat from red meats to dairy products considered villains to healthy diets. However, research conducted over the last decade or more has begun to paint a different picture. Current research shows that fat, including…
There are many factors that influence dairy markets. Sometimes those factors are not as obvious as others. The most obvious factors, of course, are milk supply and demand. The most recent drastic example of this relationship was experienced in 2019 when the pandemic hit and virtually all food service was shut down, creating a huge…
Like it or not, we live in a world economy now, and what happens abroad affects and sometimes compounds what happens here at home. Most evident, currently, is the war happening in Ukraine. Ukraine is considered the breadbasket of Europe and historically provides about 12% of the world supply of wheat and 17% of the…
Although it seems like it has reverted to winter this week, we are getting closer to spring harvest and planting season. Small grain fields are greening up and beginning to look lush, and some corn fields I drive by have that telltale blackish color of recent manure application. It is a busy time of year…
