USDA’s June WASDE raised 2026 milk production to 236.4 billion pounds on expectations of a larger cow herd and an increase in milk output per cow.

The May USDA Announcement of Class and Component Prices report is indicative of a milk market the U.S. dairy industry has not seen since 2020 as the gap between Class III and Class IV reached $5.40 per hundredweight (cwt), incentivizing depooling in Federal Milk Marketing Orders (FMMOs).

In the news impacting a dairy producer's bottom line the third week of May 2026: June Class I base price reaches $22.18 per cwt, fluid milk sales for March are 2.3% higher than a year earlier, the FARM Environmental Stewardship Program integrates newly updated RuFaS Model, and entries are now open for the 2026 World Forage Analysis Superbowl.

The Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) uniform milk prices rose an average of $1.48 per hundredweight (cwt) from March to April for an average price of $20.03 per cwt across the 11 orders.

USDA’s May WASDE report raised 2026 milk production to 235.4 billion pounds on expectations of a larger cow herd but a slower growth rate in output per cow.

At the 2026 Pennsylvania Dairy Summit, Sara Dorland, managing partner at Ceres Dairy Risk Management, shared her insights on the global dairy landscape, dairy markets, the recent Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) price reform and what all of this could mean for dairy producers.

The USDA’s Announcement of Class and Component Prices report for April confirmed the good news buzzing throughout the dairy industry, with prices rising in Class II, III and IV for the fourth straight month in 2026.

Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) uniform milk prices climbed $1.14 per hundredweight (cwt) in March for an average price of $18.55 per cwt across all 11 orders.

The USDA’s April WASDE raised 2026 milk production to 235.3 billion pounds as increases to the dairy cow inventory more than offset slower growth in milk output per cow.

Dairy markets continue moving in the right direction as milk class prices improve substantially month over month as recorded in the latest Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) milk class price report.