Total dairy farm numbers were released in USDA’s most recent Milk Production Report in late February. Dairy farm numbers fell 5.8% across the nation to 26,290 farms, while Pennsylvania’s dairy farm numbers were down by only 1.2% at 4,940 farms. Pennsylvania remained second in the number of dairy farms, closing in on Wisconsin’s dairyland, now…
USDA opened Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) enrollment for the 2024 Program Year on February 28. Those farms that enroll early could potentially receive a payment on January milk within the next couple of weeks, depending on where the margin falls. As of February 27, the January margin under the DMC Program was forecast at $8.46…
Prices on the Global Dairy Trade auction have been trending up since the beginning of the year. The Global Dairy Trade platform is the largest online trading platform for core dairy products and has buyers and sellers in more than 60 countries across the world. Commodities are traded through the GDT platform every first and…
If anything, this week taught us to expect the unexpected. On Monday, it was 50 degrees outside and seemed like spring was right around the corner. We woke up Tuesday morning, and there were 4 inches of snow outside. Weather reports were warning about the impending weather, and we all thought the ground was far…
If you’re like me, you probably appreciated the cull cow prices we received in 2023. When milk prices fell to their lowest in the summer months, you could still count on a decent price per pound if you sent a cow to auction. For those who are using some type of beef on dairy program…
Class III and IV milk futures prices saw their first significant rally this year coming off the heels of a lackluster USDA Milk Production Report that showed total milk production was essentially flat in the U.S. in 2023. For the month of December, total milk production was down 0.3% from a year ago to 18.843…
Last week Rob Goodling from Horizon Farm Credit joined me for our “Protecting Your Profits” Webinar to share highlights from the 2023 Annual Performance Indicator Review compiled from Pennsylvania dairy herds participating in Horizon and Penn State’s benchmark programs last year. The review looked at 17 dairy performance indicators that could help your dairy farm…
Have you ever had to go to a grocery store right before a snowstorm? Anytime there is more than an inch of snow forecasted, it seems like everyone and their brother rushes there to buy the essentials for their household – bread, eggs, milk, toilet paper – whatever they perceive they can’t do without in…
USDA announced the November margin under its Dairy Margin Coverage Program last week. With feed costs falling 4 cents from October and the all-milk price up 10 cents, the November margin was announced at $9.58 per cwt., up 14 cents from October and the highest margin in 2023. The November margin is eight cents above…
USDA isn’t announcing the December Class III and Class IV milk prices until Thursday of this week, but Class III went off the CME board at $16.08 per hundredweight while Class IV went off at $19.19 per cwt. If these prices hold true, that will mean the Class III milk price averaged $17.02 per cwt…
