The cheese markets soared. CME spot Cheddar blocks leapt 11.25ȼ to $1.93 per pound, their highest price since January. Barrels followed hot on their tail, climbing 11ȼ to $1.88. The widely anticipated increase in U.S. cheese output is underway, but the ramp up has been slower than expected. Cheese buyers who were waiting for heavy supplies and lower prices to lock in their summer needs are now scrambling to get their hands on some product. USDA’s Dairy Market News notes that

There were two meetings held about quota on Monday, May 5, 2025, in Modesto. The first meeting at 10 a.m. was a hearing called by the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) to receive testimony on the STOP QIP Petition #5, which seeks to hold a referendum...

The bulls feasted this week on news of booming U.S. dairy exports and signs that American dairy remains attractive to foreign buyers. Tuesday’s Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction served as an appetizer. Buyers bid up nearly all products. Compared to the late-April auction, whole milk powder prices climbed 6.2% while Cheddar jumped 12%. Both products notched three-year highs. Not to be outdone, butter rallied 3.8% to its highest-ever price at the GDT. And lactose values leapt 16

Ailing domestic consumption and dimming export prospects have weighed on dairy commodity values, and in turn, milk prices. The April Class III price was announced this week at $17.48/cwt. while Class IV came in at $17.92/cwt., representing the first time since October 2021 that both prices were below $18. Modest relief may be on the way as futures markets currently predict that both Class III and Class IV values will improve slightly later in the year. 

Every week, U.S. dairy producers send about 10,000 fewer milk cows to beef packers than they used to. That’s slowly adding up to more cows in the barn. Even so, dairy cow head counts are not as high as previously thought. After its quarterly survey, USDA trimmed its estimates of January and February milk cow inventories. The agency pegged the herd at...

Despite the fact that California has very full Northern California reservoirs and plenty of capacity in the major aqueducts and space to store water south of the delta, the state and federal delta pumping plants sit virtually idle, allowing tens of thousands of acre-feet of fresh water to flow out to the ocean every day. As the Water Blueprint for the San Joaquin Valley pointed...

The cheese markets moved from strength to strength after the early-spring selloff energized exports. U.S. cheese is the cheapest in the world, and shipments to key markets – including Mexico and South Korea – remained formidable through February. USDA’s Dairy Market News reports that, more recently, export orders have been stronger than expected, as Mexican buyers have not been deterred by trade war uncertainty. American exporters are hustling to move cheese abroad, which has

Spring has sprung and the resurgence of allergies isn’t the only sign of the season. Milk volumes are also expanding in most regions as the spring flush moves across the country. Seasonal increases are compounding milk volumes that are growing year over year both in liquid terms and in component values. As a result, milk supplies are plentiful in most parts of the U.S. Demand from bottlers has generally been upbeat, especially as many educational institutions are wrapping up

Tariff drama took center stage again this week as the long-awaited “Liberation Day” arrived. Speaking from the Rose Garden, President...

A well-attended panel discussion on water for dairy operations was part of the program for the California Dairy Sustainability Summit...

Dairy producers are doing all they can to keep their barns and milk tanks full, and it shows. In the week ending March 15, they sent just...

The days are getting longer and milk production is climbing. It’s officially spring. The Midwest welcomed in the new season with a few...

The dairy markets are adjusting to the new regime. Trade threats – and new tariffs on U.S. dairy exports to Canada and China – have...

Semitropic Water Storage District in Kern County approved paying its share of the planning and permitting cost for the delta tunnel this...

Like a teenager in a bad relationship, U.S. tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico are on-again, off-again, and then changing their...

On February 21, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) announced that it is their intention to schedule a referendum...

Red ink flooded Chicago this week. The dairy markets suffered a deluge of data and news that invigorated the bears. The trade war heated up.

U.S. milk production may have changed its tune. After slipping in the final months of 2024, output appears to have grown in January,

I attended two separate Kern Subbasin GSA board meetings this past week. The Kern folks are ready for their hearing. A tremendous amount...

On February 10, 2025, flows from the Sacramento River through the Delta were increasing following a series of storms in Northern California.