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…
Late last week, the USDA announced the August Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) margin at $8.08 per cwt. This represents the third month in a row of margin deterioration and the first DMC margin of the year to drop below the maximum $9.50 per cwt margin coverage. The August margin fell $1.84 per cwt compared to…
At 1.48 billion pounds, cheese inventory was a record high for the month of August. This was 3.6% more than August 2021. July 2022 ending cheese stocks, at 1.52 billion pounds, were an all-time high. The drawdown of 38 billion pounds of inventory from the end of July to the end of August was the…
According to data gathered and reported by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) in the Energy Use, Energy Saving, and Energy Efficiency Policy Recommendations for Pennsylvania Agriculture report dated March 2020, there are 49,924 farms across the Commonwealth. Curious about energy use across the entire agriculture sector and eager to develop programs to help…
