Much has been written about milk supplies over the last year. In the U.S., it is no secret that the industry is short on replacement heifers, as dairymen have continued to incorporate beef breeding into...

What happens when an irresistible force collides with an immovable object? The dairy industry is attempting to solve this classic physics paradox. In this case, the force is the invisible hand of the market

The dairy market in 2024 has been characterized by a delicate balance between supply and demand

It should come as no surprise to anyone in the U.S. dairy industry that supply and demand drive the milk price. In a competitive market, we expect profit margins, and therefore price, to move to values...

Consumers slowed dairy consumption in response to high levels of inflation, which has risen by 17% over the last three years

February was a big month for USDA data releases

Milk production in the United States seems to have entered a period of unknown duration when expansion in excess of demand will be less common than it has been in past years

As 2023 comes to a close, dairy producers are hopeful that 2024 will be a better year. Record-low Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) levels are one measure pointing to the tough financial year of 2023

The unprecedented dairy boom of 2022 gave way to the inevitable bust in 2023. Although no one expected sky-high milk prices to persist into this year, the speed and severity of the setback blindsided producers

Domestic and international dairy product future prices offer a slight glimmer of hope as we march toward fall

DAIRY product prices fell to levels not imagined several months ago, which pulled milk prices lower

In recent months, Class III markets have been in a free fall as June Class III milk prices are tracking to the lowest levels since 2020

About the same time the new farm bill will be kicking in this October, the federal government’s new fiscal year also will be underway

Milk prices can’t go much lower, especially with these high feed prices . . . Can they?”

Starting in 2020, a price divergence between Class III and actual producer pay prices shook up risk management plans just as volatility re-entered dairy markets in a meaningful way for the first time

Last year saw a record-high All-Milk price, with Class III and Class IV averaging $24 and $22 per hundredweight (cwt.), respectively. Overall, that $24 Class IV price was the highest on record

Dairy prices have already shifted lower with February and March Class III futures contracts consistently dropping into the $17 range, with Class IV not far behind. I’m worried that the market moveme

Based on milk prices alone, the past year or so has gone well for dairy producers. In May, USDA reported an All-Milk price of $27.30 per hundredweight (cwt.), the highest All-Milk price on record and

If you had to pick one dominant factor that drove the U.S. dairy economy in 2022, the top candidate would be constrained milk production. It goes without saying that if you had to predict the dominant

Four years ago, U.S. dairy’s safety net was completely revamped. Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) replaced the largely ineffective Margin Protection Program (MPP-Dairy), and Dairy Revenue Protection (DRP