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A common question I receive is: What is the relationship between my milk price and dairy commodity prices trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME)?
In answering that question, let me begin by saying the California state order does use CME cheese and butter prices in determining a portion of that state’s milk prices. But federal milk marketing orders do not use CME prices.
The profit margin landscape continues to look favorable for dairy producers as we head into the second half of the year.
While down around $1 per hundredweight (cwt) from their highs back in April, forward margin projections remain very strong from a historical perspective, existing at or above the 80th percentile of the previous 10 years through the first quarter of 2014.
Editor’s note: This article is the second in a two-part series about the controversy surrounding aspartame in milk.
People are passionate about their milk.
Kim Koehn grew up on a dairy near Copeland, Kansas. Today, he manages High Plains Dairy near Plains, Kansas. The two dairies are about an hour and 4,000 cows apart.
Recently, the Class III futures for the upcoming months trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) have experienced some downward volatility that has eroded much of the narrow profit potential for dairymen.
World Dairy Expo announced Scott Bentley as the new general manager, effective June 3. At a press conference that same week, World Dairy Expo Board President Mike Holschbach said Bentley is the sixth general manager in the 47 years the event has been held.
A system developed to treat the water used to cool downtown commercial buildings is now available to treat the rural water troughs where dairy cows drink.
Heat stress costs the U.S. dairy industry nearly $900 million annually. It’s a problem producers have to face every summer as rising temperatures affect their cows’ milk production levels, immune systems, fertility and more.
Flies are a predictable part of dairying during the warmer months.
Flies can injure teats, spread mastitis and pinkeye bacteria, reduce daily milk production and slow growth of replacement heifers.
There reaches a point for many dairy producers when retrofitting existing facilities produces diminishing returns.
Before 2009, the cows at Diederich Farm LLC were housed in a late-1960s-style freestall barn – low roofline, low sidewalls and short stall beds.
