What is Causing Volatility in the Dairy Industry? Digging Deeper – Part I
The June 18, 2026, post to this site covered the volatility of producer prices. Diary milk production has always been a volatile business. When the milk came from small farms, life was always up and down as the price of crops, milk, eggs, etc. varied. Diary today has become a business with huge farms, technology, […]
Digging Deeper into U.S. Exports of Butter
The prior post analyzed the exports of cheese. The largest importer of U.S. Cheese is Mexico. Mexico’s adjourning border makes deliveries no more expensive than deliveries to the U.S. But Mexico cannot continue to accept the large volumes sent in the first four months of 2026. If cheese production continues to exceed domestic consumption […]
Digging Deeper into U.S. Exports of Cheese
The prior post covered where U.S. exports of cheese and butter are going. Production of both cheese and butter have increased and exceed U.S. consumption. Exports are needed to balance production and sales. This post will dig a little deeper into the cheese exports to test the long-term stability of these exports. Mexico and Canada […]
Where are the Exports Going?
Exports have surged as covered in the prior post. Where are they going? This post will cover where the 2026 exports of cheese and butter are going. Are the exports sustainable? Tables I and III below list the Countries buying the most cheese and butter from the U.S.. Exports to Mexico and Canada are significant […]
Volatility in Dairy
This post covers a different view of the shifting dairy business. The three Tables in this post show the shifting dynamics for the 12-month averages ending in April 2024, 2025, and 2026. Six main dairy products are covered in these Tables. Following the Tables, the changes in each of these dairy products will be analyzed. […]
How to Squeeze Out the Best Value for Producer Milk
Prior posts covered the low prices for producer milk. The value of commodities is priced on formulas developed by the USDA and implemented in 2025. The details on how a producer is paid will be covered in this post. There are 12 charts in this blog to cover the details. Most data is displayed in […]
DE-POOLING From a Federal Order
De-pooling from a Federal Order has a significant financial impact on dairy farms. Why is milk de-pooled? This post will cover some of the impact. No detail is available on the price received for de-pooled milk, but it is likely to be at or near to the Federal Order pricing for the milk. For details […]
The impact of “Other” Fluid Milk
The USDA report on sales of fluid milk lists categories such as whole milk, 2% milk, 1% milk, etc. There is one category, “Other”, which is a “catch all” for everything that does not fit in one of their categories. Traditionally, this category was very small, but it has increased by almost 600% in the […]
Too Much Milk and Too Many Cows
The milk cow population in the U.S. has grown significantly in 2025 and the first quarter of 2026 (Chart I). During this time the milk cow population has grown by 3%. As covered in prior posts, domestic consumption of most dairy products is not growing. The trend for increased milk cows is not showing any […]
Cheese Domestic Consumption is not Growing, But Production is Growing.
More than half of U.S. milk is used for Cheese. Dairy farms supplying the cheese producers are paid primarily on the value of milk protein and butterfat components. As covered in prior posts, the farm revenue from milk protein and butterfat are currently low. The price of milk protein is based on the cheese price […]
