Latest Moos

New Year Class I Price Drops $1.28

The Agriculture Department announced the first Federal order milk price of 2024. The January Class I base price is $18.48 per hundredweight, down $1.28 from December, $3.93 below January 2023, and the lowest Class I since August 2023. It equates to $1.59 per gallon, down from $1.93 a year ago. Courtesy of the Mielke Market Weekly

Benchmark Climbs 31 Cents

Financial relief is coming slowly to U.S. dairy farms. The Agriculture Department announced the November Federal order Class III milk price at $17.15 per hundredweight, up just 31 cents from October but $3.86 below November 2022 and the lowest November Class III since 202018. That put the year’s average at $17.11, down from $22.09 in 2022, but compares to $16.96 in 2021. 

Unfortunately, Wednesday’s Class III futures portend a December price at $16.11, down $1.00 from November’s price and would put the year’s average at $17.03, which would be down from $21.96 in 2022, and compare to $17.08 in 2021. 

The January Class III was at $16.22; February, $16.75; and March at $17.31, with a peak of $18.68 in October. 

The November Class IV price is $20.87, down 62 cents from October, and $2.43 below a year ago. The year’s average is at $19.11, down from $24.68 a year ago, but compares to $15.74 in 2021. Courtesy of the Mielke Market Weekly

Benchmark Drops $1.55

Dairy farmers aren’t out of their financial woes yet. The Agriculture Department announced the October Federal order Class III benchmark milk price at $16.84 per hundredweight, down $1.55 from September, driven primarily by a sharp drop in cheese prices. It’s a woeful $4.97 below October 2022 and the lowest October Class III since 2018. The year has seen a high of $19.43 in January and a low of $13.77 in July. 

Class III futures portend a turnaround next month but not by much. The November contract settled Wednesday at $17.24 per cwt.; December, $17.13; January 2024, $17.34; February $17.76; and March at $18.14, all in the right direction but still short of profitability for most. 

The ten month Class III average stands at $17.10, down from $22.20 at this time a year ago and compares to $16.86 in 2021. 

The October Class IV price is $21.49, up $2.40 from September, thanks primarily to the record breaking butter price, but is $3.47 below a year ago, yet the highest Class IV price since December 2022. Its ten month average is at $18.93, down from $24.82 a year ago and $15.44 in 2021.
Courtesy of the Mielke Market Weekly