
The Latest: September - 2025
No Bulls to Be Found on LaSalle Street
There were no bulls to be found on LaSalle Street this week. The bears roamed freely, showing no fear of an overcorrection even as parts of the dairy complex scored multi-year lows. Red ink poured into the cheese and milk powder trade and deluged the butter market. CME spot butter plummeted to $1.86 per pound, down 16.25ȼ in just five trading sessions. Spot butter is down more than 40% from the mid-summer high, languishing at its lowest level since October 2021, nearly four years ago. The weakness carried across the futures board, with May through October 2026 contracts dropping 10ȼ or more on Friday.
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USDA’s Milk Production report, released Wednesday, suggested that national milk supplies are growing at a slower rate than many analysts previously believed. Lighter milk supplies have likely helped to keep upward pressure on the markets this week.
View reportDespite some moderation during Friday’s spot session, gains earlier in the week left prices higher than last Friday for both butter and nonfat dry milk (NDM), pushing Class IV milk values upward.
View reportHot weather weighed on U.S. milk yields and slowed milk powder output in August. As the impacts of the summer heat wave fade and bottlers settle into the school milk routine, there is more milk available for processing.
View reportThe bulls were put out to pasture this summer, grazing in paddocks far from LaSalle Street. But fall is here, and they are back home enjoying a high energy ration, pushing several markets to their highest price in months.
View reportSoaring temperatures in much of the country and unusually humid conditions in the Southwest added up to a lot of stress. National average milk yields fell short of year-ago levels, an exceptionally rare occurrence.
View reportAccording to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. just suffered its hottest summer ever. Soaring temperatures weighed on milk yields and tightened supplies as heat stress accumulated late in the summer and into September.
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