The Latest: May - 2026
Entire Dairy Complex Deflated
A tiny bit of air leaked out of the spot milk powder market, and the entire dairy complex deflated. CME spot nonfat dry milk (NDM) notched an all-time high on Tuesday at $2.265 per pound. Prices slipped Wednesday and Thursday and then bounced back on Friday. Spot NDM closed the week at $2.2625, just a hairsbreadth off the high and up 0.25ȼ for the week. But when spot NDM took a breather, dairy futures collapsed. Milk, cheese, whey, butter, and milk powder futures lost ground nearly every day this week. July and August NDM futures plummeted 4ȼ on Friday, their maximum daily loss, despite the late-week rebound in the spot market.
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Indecision continued to pervade the dairy markets this week as the price of most products waffled close to recent levels. While the market tone is not one of desperation, both supply and demand leave something to be desired with the two market forces going head-to-head to see which will exert more influence on prices.
View reportLos mercados lácteos están buscando un fondo. Los futuros de Clase III de abril a julio marcaron mínimos en la vida del contrato esta semana. Estos son precios que seguirán impulsando la contracción en la industria, reduciendo la producción de leche y la producción de productos lácteos. De hecho, a pesar de las grandes inversiones en la capacidad de producción de queso en Estados Unidos, la producción de queso cayó un 1.2% por debajo de los volúmenes del año anterior en enero. La producción de cheddar, un factor importante para el precio en Chicago, cayó un 7.9% interanual en enero. Y el queso competitivo en precio de Estados Unidos.
View reportThe dairy markets are feeling around for a bottom. April through July Class III futures notched life-of-contract lows this week. But the bulls are not wallowing in despair.
View reportIt was a rough week on LaSalle Street. The trade had hoped that lower milk output and a smaller dairy herd would propel the markets upward. And they did, for a time.
View reportThe U.S. dairy industry continues to shrink. In the latest Milk Production report, USDA trimmed its estimates of 2023 milk production, and it cut its assessment of the milk cow herd for every month last year. According to the latest figures, the milk-cow herd contracted nearly 50,000 head in 2023 and declined another 23,000 head from December to January.
View reportUSDA released its 2022 Census of Agriculture earlier this week, providing the latest installment of the once-every-five-year report on the state of agriculture in the country. Unsurprisingly the report showed that farm numbers have fallen while expenses have risen, and the average American farmer has aged. But the report provided some encouraging information, as well. Total farm income rose by 39.8% compared to five years ago, while average farm income increased by 50.2%.
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