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. To access the latest call, click here or click on the links below to review the documents.

Pennsylvania Dairy Industry Performance 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.

• Pennsylvania’s milk production is .4 percent higher than last January with 4,000 fewer cows while national production grew .9 per cent.
• January’s Milk Margins are 36% above last January and the highest since 2007 with feed costs 19% below last year.
• Pennsylvania’s rolling herd average of 21,527  is 400 lbs above last year with 17.7% of the herds averaging more than 80 lbs per day.
• 58% of Pennsylvania’s DHIA herds had somatic cell countsunder 200,000 in January.

Protecting Your Profits Scorecard:To provide an overview of the national dairy industry, with consumption, marketing and production trends, the center publishes the monthly “Protecting Your Profits” scorecard.

• February prices for the Federal Order Class I Mover, Class II, Class III, and Class IV milk are all at record levels yielding record margins
• Cow numbers have remained steady for the past six months while slaughter number are also high but similar to last January .
•  January dairy exports were lower than recent months but their value was still $150 million more than last January.
• Butter inventories are the lowest since the winter of 2011, 28% below their 3 year average. Cheese inventories are steady at – 2.9% of the 3 year average while Non Fat Dry Milk stocks are 10% below the average of the past 3 years.
• International  prices for cheese,butter, and skim milk powder continue to hold over $2.00 / lb, more than 20% above the three year average price.
• CME prices for block cheese, barrel cheese,and nonfat dry milk are all 25% above their 3 year average and over the $2.00 / lb threshold. Butter is lagging but prices are 10% over the 3 year average.

Alan Zepp, the center’s risk management program 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.