Fri, 25 Sep 2009 16:03:00 GMT
Farm audits for the second herd retirement implemented by Cooperatives
Working Together in 2009 have been completed, and the majority of the 74,114 cows that
produced 1.5 billion pounds of milk have been sent to processing plants. In addition, 2,958
bred heifers also were removed through CWT’s eighth herd retirement round.
In this most recent round, CWT removed 274 herds in 38 states. When combined with the herd
retirements completed last winter and earlier this spring, CWT has removed 225,783 cows that
produced 4.5 billion pounds of milk. In addition, the nearly 3,000 bred heifers taken in this herd
retirement bring the total removed by CWT in the past nine months to 5,016.
CWT received 312 bids from dairies in 39 states during the bidding process in July, which
offered a set maximum acceptable bid price. As a result of the selection and auditing process
CWT follows, along with some withdrawals by bidders, the final number of bids processed
totaled 274, down 20 from the initial tentative tally. For the full news story click here.
Posted in News
Tue, 22 Sep 2009 19:46:00 GMT
The National Milk Producers Federation’s Strategic Planning Task Force agreed last Friday to pursue a four‐part approach to implementing sweeping changes as to how federal dairy policies protect producers and how farm‐level milk prices are established. For the full story click here.
Posted in News
Fri, 18 Sep 2009 14:47:00 GMT
Congress returned from its August recess this week to a slew of unresolved items on
its agenda including a controversial amendment to the fiscal year 2010 agriculture appropriations bill. The
bill currently is in conference committee.
The Senate-passed amendment, offered by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., appropriates $350 million to
USDA with the intent of assisting dairy producers.
According to Sanders, the extra $350 million would provide farmers on average an estimated $1.50 extra
per hundredweight.
USDA in late July announced that through October, the support price for Cheddar blocks would increase
from $1.13 per pound to $1.31 per pound; Cheddar barrels from $1.10 to $1.28 per pound; and nonfat dry
milk (NDM) from $.0.80 to $0.92 per pound. Cash cheese prices on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange
have hovered near government support levels over the past several weeks.
According to Sanders, an increase in the Farm Service Agency budget to more than $1.6 billion would
allow USDA to raise the support price for Cheddar blocks from $1.31 to $1.40; barrels from $1.28 to
$1.37; and NDM from $.92 to $.97. For the full story click
here.
Posted in News
Fri, 18 Sep 2009 14:17:00 GMT
The
October Advanced Class I price was released this morning by USDA. The value of $12.35 represents a $1.42 increase over the Sep. value. This higher value with associated lower feed costs implies that the MILC payments for Oct. will be less than the September payment. After incorporating the Oct. mover into our MILC forecasting model we have an estimated MILC payment for October of $0.60 . This compares to estimated payments of $1.64 in August and $1.24 for September milk. For more detail refer to the following spreadsheet files: http://future.aae.wisc.edu/collection/software/currentMILCest.xls and http://future.aae.wisc.edu/collection/software/MILCPaymentCalc_base.xls .
Posted in Dairy-Related Prices
Wed, 16 Sep 2009 19:46:00 GMT
August’s retail dairy prices represented the lowest level in more than two years. The
Milk CPI dropped for the 9th straight month to 124.7, down 18% from 2008 . The August city-average
retail price of whole milk was $2.98/gallon, down 91¢
from Aug. 2008. The
Aug. Cheese CPI was 197.9, down 11% from a year ago, and down for the 12th straight month. The
Butter CPI was 166.8, down 9%, ending three months of increases.
Posted in Dairy-Related Prices
Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:35:00 GMT
Favorable weather has helped farmers produce what could be a huge harvest, with projections calling for 13 billion bushels. That would be just shy of the 13.04 billion bushels harvested in 2007.
The giant crop is good news for farmers and livestock producers, who should benefit from lower feed costs, but it probably won’t make a big difference to the cost of groceries.
Although corn is a key ingredient in countless products, from Coke to corn flakes, most of a product’s cost is tied to labor and transportation, not ingredients, said Kent Thiesse, a farm management analyst and vice president of MinnStar Bank in Lake Crystal, Minn.
For the complete story click here
Posted in News
Mon, 07 Sep 2009 13:21:00 GMT
A slight increase in the
All-Milk price and declining feed costs moved the
Aug. milk-feed ratio to its highest level of th year. With likely MILC payment we may see the highest ratio since Nov 08 and only the second time the ratio has been over 2.00 since Mar 08.
Posted in Dairy-Related Prices
Wed, 02 Sep 2009 14:15:00 GMT
Fonterra Cooperative Group Ltd., the world’s largest dairy exporter, is using “every available
drop” of milk to meet orders as a recovery in demand lifted prices to a one-year high.
Whole milk powder prices jumped 25 percent to $2,872 a metric ton, the highest since
September last year, at Fonterra’s monthly auction. Resurgent demand, reduced production in
the U.S. and “tight” supplies in Australia and New Zealand all contributed to the bigger-thanexpected
jump in prices, the Auckland-based company said. For more detail click
here.
Posted in News
