Weekly Wholesale Prices of Dairy Commodities are at Mid to Low Levels
The wholesale prices of cheese, butter, nonfat dry milk (NDM), and dry whey drive the prices of producer milk. They are calculated weekly and then consolidated for the 4-week and 5-week months used for calculating producer milk prices. The most current data on the wholesale prices of these four commodities are available in the weekly […]
Are Dairy Exports Declining with Tariff Negotiations?
There is concern that dairy exports may be significantly impacted by the new tariffs. This post will follow the data on the major exports; nonfat dry milk (NDM) and skim milk powder (SMP), cheese, dry whey, and butter. The data and charts shown will use 12-month moving averages and month by month values from the […]
Retail Dairy Prices are Increasing Annually by More Than 2% in 2025 = Inflation
In 2021 and 2022, the price of most everything skyrocketed. Overall, consumer prices have increased by 22% between the start of 2021 through April 2025 (Chart I). Food products increased by 24% (Chart III). Although the rate of increase in prices has slowed, the impact of the 2021-22 price increases remains. Charts in this post […]
Where are Producer Milk Prices Going?
Some recent articles show some confusion between cream, butterfat, butter, and buttermilk. See this prior post. Soft (liquid) dairy products like coffee cream are included in Class II milk. These products include some butterfat and some milk. Products like cream cheese are included in Class III milk as a solid cheese. Buttermilk is a fluid […]
Cream to Butter – An Explanation
Some recent articles show some confusion between cream, butterfat, butter, and buttermilk. See this prior post. Soft (liquid) dairy products like coffee cream are included in Class II milk. These products include some butterfat and some milk. Products like cream cheese are included in Class III milk as a solid cheese. Buttermilk is a fluid […]
Is Milk per Cow Growing?
Milk per cow is a parameter to follow. It can lower the cost of milk for producers and the dairy community. Historically, this parameter has grown. Currently, the pace of growth has slowed. This post will show the status of all 24 states reporting this information and how the largest milk producing states are doing. […]
Are Milk Components Still Growing?
Higher levels of butterfat and milk protein increase producer revenue and help meet the dairy domestic consumption with fewer cows. The increase of these components has been steady. Are they reaching a limit? Is the growth slowing? This post will cover the changes in the first quarter of 2025. Overall, the growth continues to be […]
Do We Really Have a Glut of Cream?
A recent article has stated that we have a “glut of cream” and need to expand butter exports. Data from reliable sources indicates the opposite. Domestic demand for butter shows no weakness, wholesale inventories of butter are low, we are importing butter to meet demand, and exports are low due to a lack of inventory. […]
Payments from Federal Orders Vary
Most of the U.S. producer milk is paid based on the Federal Order standards. Below is a table with the prices paid in each Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) in 2023 and 2024. They are ranked based on their 2024 Uniform (average) payment per cwt. Florida has the highest paid producer milk. The two biggest […]
INFLATION!
This post will cover a subject not typically covered in documents related to milk producers. But dairy products consumer demand can impact producer milk prices. Food inflation is often mentioned as a U.S. problem. This post will follow inflation for total consumer purchases, food purchases, and specifically for dairy products including Cheddar cheese, processed cheese, […]
