Based on the USDA Milk Production report, U.S. milk output totaled 18.3 billion pounds in February 2026, a 2.9% increase from February 2025. The nation’s average monthly production per cow rose 12 pounds from February 2025 to 1,899 pounds the same month the prior year. The U.S. milking herd was 9.62 million head, up 211,000…
The USDA announced February’s margin at $8.46 per hundredweight (cwt) for the Dairy Margin Coverage program. At the $9.50 coverage level, participating dairies received an indemnity of $1.04 cents per cwt. For program year 2026, this will make the second consecutive month where the margin fell below the $9.50 trigger and resulted in payments. February’s…
Few industries understand the volatility of time better than agriculture. Growing up on a family farm, I’ve seen firsthand that time is money – whether it is calving season, harvesting windows, disease threats, or working against weather – but it also means the health and safety of animals, crops and the vitality of farm families
It’s been a topsy-turvy couple of weeks in the dairy market. Despite growing milk supply around the globe – the US included – product availability appears to be running a bit light. That’s giving commodity prices a boost from earlier this year. Class III prices for April through December are now sitting at $18 per…
Those of us on the dairy farm right now are feeling the pinch of milk prices that have fallen significantly in the past six months, with February’s Class III price announced at $14.94 per hundredweight, up 35 cents from January but still well below the 2025 average Class III price of $18.01. The February Class…
In the February USDA Milk Production Report, the year-end U.S. data was released. For last year, the U.S. milk production totaled 232 billion pounds, a 2.6 percent increase from 2024’s total pounds. For 2025, the U.S. milk production total was revised upward 176 million pounds from January’s initial estimate. Looking back over the past ten…
For many dairy farm families, an important component of their purpose is to build something lasting so the next generation has the chance to continue the farming operation in the future. Many times, there is a family legacy component to their farm’s history that comes with a desire to keep the tradition going. Some people…
Coming into 2026, the milk price talk was downright depressing. Too much milk. Not enough demand. Plenty of global competition. Yet even amongst the bearish talk, the dairy markets have been full of surprises over the past few weeks – especially the nonfat dry milk market. After spending the better part of 2025 trudging in…
Based on the January 2026 USDA Cattle Inventory Report, all cows and heifers that have calved totaled 37.2 million head, down slightly from 37.3 million head from January 2025. Milk cow numbers reached 9.57 million head, up 2.0 percent from the prior year and the highest since 1993. However, U.S. milk cow number growth has…
USDA opened Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) enrollment for the 2026 Program Year on January 12. Those farms that enroll could potentially receive payments on milk produced from January through March, based on current margin projections on the USDA Decision Tool. As of February 2, the January margin under the DMC Program was forecast at $7.52…
