An Update on Butterfat Supply and Pricing
For four years butterfat has been the largest revenue source for dairy producers. The value of butterfat began increasing in 2022 and reached a record price of $3.71 per pound in late 2023. In 2024 and 2025 the price began declining (Chart I). Because butterfat is the largest contributor to producer and processor revenue, the […]
Fluid Milk Continues to Grow
Fluid milk for drinking was the leading dairy product in the 1900’s. Since then, sales have dropped every year until 2024. Because fluid milk is a saturated fat it was considered a possible contributor to clogging arteries. With changes in the medical field, dairy products have now been classified as being a healthy product providing […]
Why is California Class IV Milk Being De-Pooled?
At the conclusion of the prior post, de-pooling of California Class IV milk in July was mentioned. Despite the effort to reduce de-pooling with higher Class I differentials, the practice of de-pooling Class IV milk in California continues (Chart I). This post will explain why this occurred and why it will continue. Chart I – […]
Can The New USDA Formula Implemented in June Reduce De-pooling?
The Northeast Federal Order has done a good job of minimizing de-pooling in their Order (See the charts in a recent Post). Additionally, the USDA changes implemented in June will make it difficult to gain any benefits by de-pooling in all 11 Federal Milk Orders. This post will cover the USDA changes to minimize de-pooling […]
Why is Milk De-pooled?
Why is milk de-pooled? Well, it’s all about money. The concept of de-pooling milk from a Federal Order has existed for many decades. Prior to the year 2000, it was not used very often. In the 1900’s, fluid milk was the main use of milk. Class I fluid milk was the highest priced and had […]
Why is Milk De-pooled in the Federal Milk Marketing Orders?
The Federal Milk Marketing Orders (FMMOs) exist to create orderly milk markets, provide fair prices for dairy farmers, and ensure a steady supply of quality milk for consumers at reasonable prices. The USDA has recently implemented significant changes to the formulas used to calculate the price of producer milk. The changes significantly decrease the prices paid […]
More on Exports and Imports – NDM and Whey
The last two posts, July 30 and August 6, covered exports and Imports of butter and cheese. This post will cover the next two most important exported dairy products, nonfat dry milk (NDM) and whey. Both products are by-products of major dairy products, such as butter and cheese. By-products must find a home. If not, […]
Are Cheese Exports Really Growing? How about Imports?
This post follows the trends of growth in cheese exports and imports based on the U.S. Trade and Tariffs database. The prior post covered imports of butter only. There are very minimal exports of butter due to limited U.S. inventories so there is little to discuss. Exports and imports of cheese are a much larger […]
Will The EU 15% Tariffs Impact Irish Imports of Butter?
As covered in the last post, butter is being imported to the U.S to meet domestic demand. Currently, about 7% of domestic butter is imported and Irish butter is the largest import source by far (Table I). U.S. Tariffs of 15% on EU products have just been agreed to. Will this increase domestic butter prices? […]
Butterfat Prices are Dropping. Is it a Trend or a Blip?
In the last four quarters, the price of butterfat has consistently dropped each quarter from $3.59 to $3.02, to $2.80, to $2.68 per pound (Chart I). Is this a sign of a declining market or is it just normal price variation? The eight charts below review the status of the various items that influence the […]
