“Beef on Dairy” Continues to Grow Another innovation to improve Producer Revenue
The October 30, 2025, post to this blog covered “Beef on Dairy” growth. This post is six months later, updating “Beef on Dairy” growth. Data for this analysis is from many sources and some of the data conflicts, but regardless, there is significant growth in “Beef on Dairy.” There are three drivers to this growth. […]
More on Producer Prices for Milk
Chart I tracks the Agricultural Marketing Services (AMS) prices used for producer payment of butterfat and milk protein in the Federal Orders. It is shown here primarily to highlight the volatility of prices paid to producers. The trend lines show a steady increase in the price of butterfat and the declining price of milk protein. […]
Update on Fluid Milk Consumption
Prior posts to this blog have followed fluid milk sales. Chart I lists total U.S. milk sales. The decline through 2023 has slowed and leveled out in 2024. Unfortunately, the decline in sales has returned. This post will cover what is happening through February 2026. The 12-month moving averages show a record low for total […]
Are Dairy Products Contributing to Inflation?
Inflation for U.S. consumers is above the 2% guideline. Is the price of food contributing? Is the price of dairy products contributing to high prices? This subject was covered one year ago in this “Milk Pay” blog. A year later retail Cheese prices are up a little, fluid milk prices have not changed much, […]
Farms Sizes Continues Growth
Producers in the dairy Industry continue to increase efficiency and lower costs with larger farms. The Census of Agricultural does a survey every five years that includes the size of diary farms. The charts below show the trends over 35 years. The time span is lengthy to provide data that show trends that can predict […]
Are “Other Solids” Increasing Revenue?
Prior posts have focused on producer revenue from butterfat and milk protein as they are the two largest sources of revenue for producers. As shown in Chart I below, revenue from Other Solids is a small contributor compared to butterfat and milk protein. Chart I – Revenue per cow for Butterfat, Milk Protein, and Other […]
Butterfat Prices Continue to Fall. What are Milk Protein Prices Doing?
The prior post showed that the producer price of butterfat is continuing to fall. This post will cover the most recent price trends for milk protein. If both butterfat and milk protein prices are falling, producers will be scrambling for survival. The protein price is dependent on the wholesale cheddar cheese price and the butterfat […]
Where are Butterfat Prices Going in 2026?
Where are butterfat prices going in 2026? The answer is Down, Down and Down. This post will cover the reasons why the Agricultural Marketing Services (AMS) butterfat prices are decreasing. Chart I and II below show the 12-month moving average prices for butter and butterfat through February 2026. While they show significant decreases, the actual […]
Another Growth Product for the Dairy Industry, A2 Milk
After reading the headline, many readers are probably wondering “Why is this a growing category of milk?” This post will cover some of the reasons that this is a growing category. Unlike the growth of fairlife milk, covered in a prior post, this is a category that is growing worldwide and in all segments of […]
Are the Gains in Milk Production Paying Off?
The prior posts reviewed the amazing gains in producer productivity. Increases in butterfat components, increases in protein components, and increases in milk per cow. In each of these areas the increases were continuous over many years. Some of the reasons are improved genetics, more frequent milkings, better housing (barns), scientifically developed nutrition, better care like […]
