Monthly dairy cull cow market trends downward in early 2024.

The dairy landscape is seeing rapid, much-welcomed improvements as milk markets rallied in May with Class III futures surpassing $20 per hundredweight (cwt), $4 above April’s prices. Coupled with feed costs receding, dairy margins are looking better for the remainder of the year.

Here is a look at news affecting your dairy's bottom line before the Memorial Day weekend.

Here’s an update on interest rates from quarter four of 2023 and quarter one of 2024 as reported by four Federal Reserve districts that share data impacting dairy finances.

The USDA revised the March 2024 milk production estimate slightly higher. With the revisions, both U.S. and major state U.S. production were up about 0.4% from USDA’s preliminary estimates a month earlier.

Here a few news items summarized for you to start the third week of May.

Dairy has not escaped the influencing trend – in fact, it’s been the focus of a nutrition beat. Cottage cheese and Greek yogurt boast a healthy portion of protein (25 grams and 17 grams per cup, respectively) prompting health-conscious consumers to create unique recipes incorporating the dairy products.

Dairy producers in non-major dairy states will notice a change to how their Dairy-Revenue Protection (Dairy-RP) insurance coverage is determined.