The average Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) uniform milk price climbed 85 cents in May for an average price of $20.87 per hundredweight (cwt) across all 11 orders. Both May’s uniform milk price and producer price differentials (PPDs) edged upward, a reflection of the current market dynamics facing dairy producers, but at a much slower pace than what was realized in March and April.

Coyne jenn
Jenn Coyne
Editor / Progressive Dairy

Administrators of the 11 FMMOs reported May prices and pooling data June 9-12. Here’s Progressive Dairy’s monthly review of the numbers to provide additional transparency to your milk check.

Uniform milk prices, PPDs

Regional uniform milk prices are used as a baseline measurement to calculate milk check levels, although not an indicator of the specific milk prices received by producers. For May, uniform milk prices rose in all orders, but the spread of growth varied with the Upper Midwest FMMO, only climbing 18 cents per cwt, while producers in the Florida FMMO saw their uniform milk price rise $1.41 per cwt (Table 1). A majority of the orders did not break through $20 per cwt. The Mideast FMMO came closest with a uniform milk price of $19.93 per cwt. Uniform milk pricing calculations gave the Florida FMMO the largest uniform milk price at $25.45 per cwt, followed by the Southeast FMMO at $24.31 per cwt.

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PPDs in May were also up from the previous month (Table 1) in all seven reporting orders. The Upper Midwest FMMO reported the smallest hike of just 8 cents per cwt, while the Northeast FMMO reported a PPD of 99 cents. This month no order breached a PPD of more than $1. PPDs have zone differentials, meaning some PPDs could be negative, and milk handlers may also apply PPDs and other market adjustment factors differently to the milk check.

May class prices

Milk prices last month all rose in response to the markets as previously reported:

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  • Class I base price: The price per cwt reached $20.15 per cwt, up $1.49 per cwt from April and up $1.78 per cwt from May of 2025.
  • Class I base price zone differentials: Class I zone differentials are added to the base price principal pricing points to determine the actual Class I price in each FMMO. With those additions, May’s Class I prices should average $24.27 per cwt across the orders, with the Florida FMMO to take the lead at $26.95 per cwt and the Arizona FMMO to bring up the rear at $22.75 per cwt.
  • Class I mover formula: The May Class I base skim milk price was $14.12 per cwt, up $2.12 from the previous month. The spread in the monthly advanced Class III skim milk pricing factor ($10.78 per cwt) and the advanced Class IV skim milk pricing factor ($14.12 per cwt) was $3.34 per cwt, with Class IV being used as the “higher of” for the Class I mover in the milk pricing formula.
  • Class II: At $20.28 per cwt, the Class II price increased $1.46 per cwt from April and $1.56 per cwt from May of last year.
  • Class III: The May Class III price struggled to gain any momentum, rising just 10 cents from the month prior to $16.92 per cwt. It remained $1.65 per cwt less than the price announced in May 2025.
  • Class IV: Class IV prices soared $2.10 per cwt to $22.32 per cwt in May, $4.10 per cwt more than the same month in 2025.

The gap between May Class III and Class IV milk prices was $5.40 per cwt, giving incentives to depool Class IV milk in some FMMOs and potentially lower the blend price dairy producers may receive in those orders. The last time the industry saw the spread between these two classes so large was in 2020 where the gap reached an astounding $10.78 per cwt with Class III the leader.

Component values, tests

Both the prices of nonfat solids and protein rose from April to May. The value of protein reached $2.75 per pound, up from $2.52 per pound last month and up from $2.48 per pound in May 2025. The value of nonfat solids was announced at $1.82 per pound, up from $1.52 per pound in April and $1.01 per pound last year.

The May value of butterfat dipped 16 cents to $1.70 per pound. It was also down from $2.66 per pound in May 2025. The price of other solids fell 1 cent to 38 cents per pound, but was up 6 cents from the same month a year ago.

Influencing statistical uniform prices “at test,” May’s average butterfat and protein tests in pooled milk were essentially unchanged from April in FMMOs providing preliminary data. Somatic cell counts in the few FMMOs reporting monthly averages were also unchanged from the previous month’s data.

Pooling totals

May’s total milk pooled through the 11 FMMOs was 12.866 billion pounds, another marginal increase from the previous month when the volume of pooled milk was 12.583 billion pounds. The additional milk was found pooled in Class II and Class III, both up 3% to 1.522 billion pounds and 7.265 billion pounds, respectively. As the Class IV milk price rose in May, so did the incentives to depool, which was evident as pooling volumes remained virtually unchanged from April at 828 million pounds (Table 2).


Class I pooling volumes fell 1% in May from April to 3.22 billion pounds, representing 25% of the total milk pooled across FMMOs for the month.

Looking ahead

In referencing FMMO advanced prices and current futures prices, June regional uniform milk prices should rise, but economists warn of lower revenues in the second half of 2026 as milk markets have begun to deflate.

  • Class I: The June advanced Class I base price reached $22.18 per cwt. This price is not only up $2.03 per cwt from May, but also $4.92 per cwt above the same advanced Class I base price of June 2025 and the highest reported price since November 2024.
  • Class I base price zone differentials: June’s Class I price should average $26.30 per cwt across the orders, with the Florida FMMO rising to the top with $28.98 per cwt and the Arizona FMMO falling to the bottom with $24.78 per cwt.
  • Class I mover formula: The June Class I base skim milk price was $16.75 per cwt, up from May’s $14.12 per cwt. The spread in the monthly advanced Class III milk pricing factor ($11.39 per cwt) and the advanced Class IV skim milk pricing factor ($16.75 per cwt) was an astonishing $5.36 per cwt as the Class IV was used as the higher of for the Class I mover in the milk pricing formula.
  • Other class prices: June class and component prices will be announced July 1. As of trading June 12, Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) June Class III milk futures price settled at $15.99 per cwt, and the Class IV milk futures price settled at $20.85 per cwt. If the Class III-IV futures prices hold, the June Class III-IV milk price gap will continue to give incentives for depooling in Class IV.

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