From this week's USDA World Ag Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) and Crop Production reports to Rabobank's quarterly Global Dairy update, Progressive Dairy summarizes factors potentially impacting dairy producer income.

Milk checks for August production will reflect stronger protein and Class III milk prices and the highest Class IV milk price since January. A narrower price spread between Class III-IV milk prices could start to bring more Class IV milk to FMMO pools.

Here’s an update on risk management tools available through the USDA and/or USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA), as well as other information impacting your milk check.

High summer culling rates are helping kick off better milk prices this fall.

On Aug. 23, 2023, Dana Coale, deputy administrator of the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) Dairy Program, and presiding Judge Channing D. Strother, USDA chief administrative law judge, welcomed industry representatives, USDA staff and other attendees to the first day of the National Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) Pricing Formula Hearing and provided an overview of the hearing process.

Here’s Progressive Dairy’s monthly review of the numbers to provide some additional transparency to your milk check.

Reductions in cow numbers and weaker average milk output per cow contributed to a decline in U.S. and major state milk production in July, the first year-over-year decline since June 2021-22.

Despite a better outlook for milk prices, corn and soybean meal price projections were also raised.