Protecting Your Profits

Protecting Your Profits

The Center for Dairy Excellence offers several information resources to help producers identify opportunities to protect their profits. These documents are reviewed on a monthly “Protecting Your Profits” conference call. Click here to access the latest “Protecting Your Profits” Webinar.

Pennsylvania Dairy Industry Scorecard: The Center for Dairy Excellence publishes a monthly “PA Dairy Industry Performance Scorecard,” which looks at key factors supporting the growth of Pennsylvania’s dairy industry and evaluates trends affecting Pennsylvania’s dairy farms.

  • The national dairy herd shrunk another 10,000 head in June from May and is 0.84 percent smaller than a year ago, down to 9.323 million.
  • The Pennsylvania dairy herd is 6.0 percent less than last June. The Pennsylvania herd fell from 521,000 cows to 490,000 in the past year.
  • Pennsylvania’s milking herd averaged 65.5 pounds per cow per day, down from 66.5 last June.
  • National production per cow is 74.9 pounds per day for milking cows, 0.44 percent more than last June. Total U.S. milk production in June was 18.2 billion pounds, 0.40 percent below last year.
  • June Pennsylvania milk production fell 7.3 percent from last June to 838 million pounds, representing 4.6 percent of national production
  • PA’s DHIA herd average fell to 21,880 pounds of milk with 1515 pounds of components. This is a 2.2 percent decrease in milk production and components compared to last June.
  • The May milk margin at 75 pounds of milk was $12.08 per hundredweight, $1.37 higher than last year.
  • Somatic Cell counts of 203,890 are lower than June 2018 by 7.7 percent, and is the lowest June in at least the last 5 years.
  • The average days in milk on the typical Pennsylvania dairy was 186 days, up from 182 last year.
  • Pregnancy rates increased slightly to 21.6 percent from 21.3 percent last June. 22.6 percent of PA DHIA herds have a pregnancy rate greater than 29%, an increase of 4.7 percent versus June 2018.
  • Average calving age is now 25 months, about 9 days shorter than three years ago.
  • DHIA cull rates are 38.9 percent, 3 percent higher than year ago values.

US Dairy Industry Scorecard: To provide an overview the national dairy industry, with consumption, marketing and production trends, the center publishes the monthly “US Dairy Industry Performance” scorecard.

  • The May All Milk Price was $18.00 per hundredweight, 7.0 percent better thanMay 2018.
  • June butter stocks were down 2.63 percent over June 2018
  • June cheese stocks were down 0.51 percent from June 2018
  • May powder stocks were up 4.11 percent compared to May 2018
  • DMC Enrollment started June 17, 2019 and will continue through September 20, 2019
  • May DMC margin is $9.00/cwt, triggering a $0.50/cwt indemnity payment for dairies enrolled at the $9.50/cwt margin coverage
  •  June dairy cow slaughter was 2.65 percent below last year. The rolling twelve month average of dairy cows slaughtered is 4.88 percent.
  • CME butter prices are 5.24 percent higher than last June.
  • Federal order Cheddar Cheese prices are 0.67 percent above last June.
  •  U.S. dairy export value in June was 6.81 percent higher than June 2018 at over $539 million.

Zach Myers, the center’s risk education manager, reviews both of these scorecards monthly during his “Protecting Your Profits” calls. The calls are held the last Wednesday of every month. Click here to access a recording of the latest call.