As printed in our April 25, 2018 issue . . .
ENROLLMENT WILL REOPEN for the Margin Protection Program for Dairy (MPP-Dairy) from April 9 to June 1, 2018. Farmers can sign up for January to December 2018 milk production. Most importantly, enrollment in USDA’s signature dairy program is retroactive to January 1, 2018.
MONTHLY MARGIN CALCULATIONS replace bimonthly computations, and reduced coverage is available for the first 5 million pounds of milk. Producers can sign up for MPP-Dairy or LGM-Dairy, but not both. To enroll, set up a meeting at the local Farm Service Agency (FSA).
FEBRUARY MARGINS FELL to a 20-month low at $6.88 per hundredweight (cwt.). For dairy producers who buy up coverage at $7, $7.50, or $8 levels, MPP-Dairy payments would be 12 cents, 62 cents, or $1.12 per cwt., respectively. Again, 2018 enrollment will be retroactive due to the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 signed into law in February.
CLASS III FUTURES CLIMBED by 20 cents to a $15.65 average for May to December contracts during late-March to early-April trading. May was low at $14.60, while October was the high at $16.10.
VOTING WILL TAKE PLACE on the USDA’s proposed Final Rule for a California Federal Milk Marketing Order. If enacted via a two-thirds dairy producer approval, the state would become the nation’s eleventh order.
THE PATHWAY TO CALIFORNIA’S federal order started in 2015. It preserves the state’s current quota system. Economic analysis indicates a 45-cent per cwt. improvement in milk prices over the decade. The vote will take place from April 2 to May 5. For more, turn to page 266.
MULTIPLE COMPONENT PRICING could be in store for the Southeast and Appalachian Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO). Supported by four state and national trade associations and 14 co-ops that represent 70 percent of the region’s milk, the petition will be evaluated by USDA.
IN 2016, 86 PERCENT of all FMMO milk was priced with multiple component pricing (MCP) provisions. The pricing system first came to the marketplace 29 years ago, and it more accurately prices manufacturing milk.
TO RECAPTURE COSTS associated with Hurricane Irma, a temporary rule was published in the Federal Register that would bump Class I milk prices by 9 cents per cwt. for seven months in the Florida FMMO in which Class I beverage milk accounts for 83 percent of the market share.
DAIRY PRODUCT IMPORTS into the U.S. comprised 2.9 percent of U.S. dairy disappearance last year. USDA projects that to hold steady in 2018. On the flip side, U.S. dairy exports were 14.7 percent.
IN 2017, U.S. BEEF IMPORTS were 11.3 percent of total domestic disappearance. USDA forecasts that this number will be unchanged in 2018.
In your next issue!
CANADA HAS BECOME A BIG PLAYER IN U.S. MARKETS.
Unable to grow at home, Canada’s two largest dairy processors now obtain 44 and 53 percent of their dairy product sales from U.S. operations.
TWO POINTS FROM PERFECT.
It took a 498 to top more than 13,700 entries in the 88th annual Hoard’s Dairyman Cow Judging Contest.
READ THE CALVING SIGNALS.
Recognizing the normal signs of labor helps determine when assistance is needed.
