Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) “mailbox” prices averaged about 96 cents per hundredweight (cwt) less than announced average “all-milk” prices in January. It was the widest monthly spread since November 2022.

Milk checks for April milk production will reflect a lower Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) Class III price and a historically low protein component value.

The USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) released its Agricultural Prices report April 30, which includes feed costs used to calculate March Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program margins and indemnity payments. Consistent feedstuff prices and a slight improvement in the all-milk price brought the average milk income margin to $9.65 per hundredweight (cwt).

As predicted, milk prices recovered some in April with Class III at $15.57 per hundredweight (cwt) during the last full week of the month and futures jumping more than $1 for May and June. Unpredictability is still expected in the marketplace, and producers are encouraged to enroll in the Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) safety net program.

The USDA revised the February 2024 milk production estimate slightly lower. With the revisions, both U.S. and major state U.S. production were down about 0.1% from USDA’s preliminary estimates a month earlier.

Here is a summary of the latest news affecting the financial health of U.S. dairy operations.

Here’s Progressive Dairy’s monthly review of March 2024 FMMO data to provide some additional transparency to your milk check.

The USDA’s World Ag Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report offers forecasts for dairy, beef and feedstuffs. 

Milk checks for March milk production should reflect higher Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) prices for all milk classes. The increase could be short-lived.

Dairy Revenue Protection (Dairy-RP) has emerged as an effective risk management tool for dairy producers, offering protection against unexpected declines in quarterly milk revenue.