July 15, 2022: Dairy Revenue Protection

Class III and IV milk futures prices have been experiencing a slight decline on average for a couple months now. However, current futures prices as of July 12 show a sharper decline over the last  couple of weeks compared to one month ago. On June 9, 12-month average Class III price was $23.41 per cwt…

July 8, 2022: Global Milk Supply

have mentioned for several months now that despite historically high milk prices and increasing value of the dollar, U.S. dairy products have remained competitive on the international market because of a  reduced supply of milk in other major milk producing countries. According to U.S. Dairy Export Council  (USDEC) data, the U.S. has exported 756,796 metric…

July 1, 2022: June

U.S. milk production continued its year-over-year (YOY) decline in May based on the latest USDA Milk Production report released last week. Milk production per cow and cow numbers are both  contributing to the total production decline. Heat stress is also beginning to be a factor with 90 to 100 plus degree days in the West…

June 24, 2022: July is Ice Cream Month

There is still about one week of June Dairy month left, but thanks to President Ronald Reagan, dairy months aren’t over yet. In 1984, Senator Walter Huddleston of Kentucky and Representative  Kika de la Garza of Texas introduced a joint resolution that proclaimed the month of July 1984 as “National Ice Cream Month” and July…

June 17, 2022: June Dairy Month

June 2022 marks the 86th year that the annual June Dairy Month has taken place. June Dairy Month has an interesting history. It was actually started by a group of retail stores in 1937 in an  attempt to help promote and stabilize the market in what was then a time of peak milk production that…

June 10, 2022: High Dairy Product Prices

At $27.10 per cwt, the U.S. all-milk price hit a record high in April for the second month in a row. This is $1.20 more than March’s U.S. all-milk price at $25.90 per cwt which had eclipsed the  previous record of $25.70 set in September 2014. Suppressed milk production growth across the world is keeping…

June 3, 2022: Cream Supply and Butter Stocks

With the Spring Flush over in parts of the country and nearing the end in others, cream supplies are tighter than normal for this time of year. Production declines caused by year-over-year (YOY)  reductions in cow numbers and stagnating per cow output, coupled with warmer temperatures across the country, have further limited milk production and…

May 27, 2022: May

U.S. milk production has declined year-over-year (YOY) every month this year mainly driven by YOY decreases in cow numbers. National milk production per cow has remained stagnate YOY  most of the year. With warmer weather coming as summer approaches, it will be interesting to see what the national milk production trend will be for the…

May 20, 2022: Class IV Price Cooling Off?

Class IV milk price has increased month over month since Aug. 2021, surpassing Class III milk price in November 2021. For the third straight month, the April Class IV price, announced on May 4, set an all-time high at $25.31 per cwt. Since February, the spread between Class III and IV has been declining. The…

May 13, 2022: Early Spring Crop Progress

It seems to me that Southcentral Pennsylvania has been cooler this year than the previous three springs that I have been here. The latest USDA Crop Progress report published May 9 appears to  confirm my personal observations. Spring planting of corn and soybeans is well behind last year and the 5-year average (2017-2021). Only the…