Lee Mielke

The final Class III benchmark milk price of 2023 headed south.

Cheese demand holding steady

Financial relief is coming slowly to U.S. dairy farms. The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the November federal order Class III milk price at $17.15 per hundredweight, up just 31 cents from …

Dairy product prices were mixed the week before Thanksgiving. CME cheddar block cheese closed Friday at $1.60 per pound, unchanged on the week but 63.25 cents below a year ago. The barrels climbed to …

Class III milk price drops in October

The Federal Reserve will hold interest rates steady for another month, a good sign of the economy, but dairy farmers aren’t out of their financial woes yet. The U.D. Department of Agriculture …

The downturn in U.S. milk production was bigger than we thought but is likely over. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s latest preliminary data put September output at 18.21 billion pounds, …

Butter sets a new record high

The September federal order Class III milk price was announced at $18.39 per hundredweight, up $1.20 from August but $1.43 below September 2022 and the highest since April. The nine-month average …

Milk production forecasts lowered again

The U.S. Department of Agriculture again lowered its milk production forecasts for 2023 and 2024 in its latest World Agriculture Supply and Demand Estimates based on “an expected decline in cow numbers reflecting the average July 2023 cow number reported in the recent Milk Production report.

U.S. milk output is simmering, not cooling yet and certainly not boiling over, but was nudged higher by stronger output per cow, especially in the Midwest.

Demand for dairy continues growth in US

The U.S Department of Agriculture lowered its 2023 milk production estimate in the latest World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimate report, citing slower growth in milk-per-cow than previously expected. Milk output for 2024 was unchanged.

Happy June Dairy Month consumers, but know that it is not a happy month for dairy farmers.

Culling rate 4.5% above last year

CME cheese prices continued to fall the third week of May as traders anticipated the April milk production report Friday afternoon.

Farm milk prices are climbing but have a way to go to hit profitability for most U.S. dairy farms.

There’s more milk coming. The U.S. Department of Agriculture raised its 2023 U.S. milk production estimate in the April 11 World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report, again citing a “larger expected cow inventory.”

The last week of March did not have a lot for the markets to feed on with respect to the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports regularly monitored. One such report was Prospective Plantings.

Cheese exports set another record

Nerves were frayed this week over the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and New York’s Signature Bank, even as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation stepped in.

Fluid milk sales continue to drop

The February federal order Class III benchmark milk price was announced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture at $17.78 per hundredweight, down $1.65 from January, $3.13 below February 2022 and the lowest it has been since September 2021.

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s latest supply and utilization data shows dairy’s commercial disappearance in 2022 was strong, up 1.6%, according to StoneX broker Dave Kurzawski in the Feb. 20 “Dairy Radio Now” broadcast.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the January Federal order Class III benchmark milk price at $19.43 per hundredweight, which is down $1.07 from December 2022, 95 cents below January 2022 and the lowest Class III price since December 2021.

Export demand for cheese remains steady

Things look a little better globally. The second Global Dairy Trade event of 2023 saw its weighted average slip just 0.1% following a 2.8% drop Jan. 3 and 3.8% Dec. 20, 2022.

Cheese exports up over 10% from year ago

 The last federal order Class III benchmark milk price of 2022 was announced at $20.50 per hundredweight, down 51 cents from November 2022 but $2.14 above December 2021.

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