Progressive Dairy provides monthly online updates of important dates and reports affecting risk management decisions.

Progressive Dairy provides monthly online updates of important dates and reports affecting risk management decisions.

The USDA’s monthly Milk Production report was highlighted by dramatic reductions in cow numbers for both August and September. Combined with weakness in milk production per cow, September’s year-over-year growth in milk production was the smallest since May 2019-20, when COVID-19 pandemic market disruptions led to widespread implementation of base-excess programs.

Digest Highlights

• Thirty-nine percent of dairy cows in ‘drought' areas
• O’Brien to succeed Gallagher as head of DMI
• Multichannel checkoff campaign launched to reach Gen Z
• Stonyfield to take in some Northeast farms facing contract terminations
• Agropur adding Wisconsin cheese production capacity
• CDI building UHT-ELS fluid plant
• USDA grant to fund algae dairy feed research
• The number of the week: Dairy consumption
• Coming up: PVMAP details; September uniform prices and PPDs

The phrase, “The gorilla in the room” is often used to describe something that is obvious yet ignored.

The Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program set three new records in August: (1) the highest total monthly average feed costs; (2) the smallest average milk income over feed cost margin; and (3) the largest indemnity payments for any month in the history of the dairy safety net program.

With fall harvest dominating your days, keeping tabs on risk management may be secondary. To help keep track of price protection opportunities, Progressive Dairy provides monthly online updates of important dates and reports affecting risk management tools.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated from the original to include additional comments from the American Dairy Coalition. As calls for reforms to the Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) system grow louder, one “hot button” issue remains under fire. At least one dairy organization wants to keep producer pressure on that issue to ensure a long-term equitable outcome.

The USDA’s latest World Ag Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report, released Sept. 10, reduced both 2021 and 2022 milk production forecasts slightly on expectations of lower cow numbers and slower growth in milk output per cow. Combining slightly stronger milk price projections with declining feed prices, the report suggests dairy income margins should improve off the extremely low levels this summer.