The dairy markets moved mostly higher this week as the protein powders continued to strengthen and cheese and butter bounced off the bottom. CME spot nonfat dry milk (NDM) rallied 4.75ȼ to $2.2675 per pound, within a few cents of the all-time high set this spring. Powder prices are climbing around the globe. Skim milk powder (SMP) had another strong showing at Tuesday’s Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction. Prices rallied 4.3% to a four-year high of $1.85. Nonetheless, the gap be

“How is it going with the water situation?” is a question I often get asked. So, here is my answer: Reservoirs: Pretty good shape going into the new water year which started on October 1. Pine Flat on the Kings River looks lower than average, but that is misleading. The reservoir is right where it needs to be to capture the huge runoff that would result from a wet winter.

The dairy markets continue to diverge. Strong demand for proteins is lifting powder values. This week, CME spot whey powder gained another 2ȼ and reached 82.5ȼ per pound, a fresh 4.5-year high. Spot nonfat dry milk added a nickel, climbing to $2.22, just 7.5ȼ below the all-time high reached this spring. Asian buyers are eager to import U.S. whey powder, propping up prices despite robust production. For NDM, both domestic and international demand are strong, while production r

Protein reigns supreme over the dairy complex. In the GLP-1 era, consumers are hungry for protein in all forms, and dairy delivers. Whey proteins are particularly desirable thanks to their neutral flavor. Food processors covet whey powders, protein concentrates (WPCs), and protein isolates (WPIs) as they seek to improve nutritional labels without sacrificing on taste or texture. Demand for WPC with at least 80% protein has faded as prices have climbed high enough to push buye

The dairy markets are singing the same song as they were last week, only louder. Dairy proteins are in demand, and prices continue to climb. But we’re making more cheese and butter than the market can absorb, and those markets are in retreat.

Consumers are hungry for dairy proteins, but demand for dairy fats is not keeping pace with formidable growth in supplies. Heavy output is weighing on prices for cheese and butter. At the CME spot market, butter plunged 7ȼ to $1.37 per pound, its lowest price since mid-January. Traders exchanged 72 loads in Chicago this week. American butter is the cheapest in the world, but manufacturers haven’t made enough 82% unsalted butter to increase the volume of U.S. butter moving off

Relentless growth in milk output and sky-high components kept dairy manufacturers busy in July. Dairy processors made 2.1% more cheese and 5.5% more butter than in July 2025. Domestic demand is not keeping pace with this growth, and neither are exports. Despite another month of record-smashing cheese shipments, year-over-year growth in January through July cheese exports was 19.5 million pounds smaller than the increase in cheese output. Meanwhile butter exports fell short o

Over the past couple of months, I have attended and participated in a number of water conferences and broader meetings where common themes have emerged. There is a universal belief that California’s water situation is not good and there are two things we need to do to change that. One is euphemistically named “regulatory reform” and the other is “funding.”

The bulls bellowed in the grain pits. December wheat futures soared 85ȼ this week to $7.84 per bushel, a three-year high. Drought in the Plains withered the U.S. wheat crop to its smallest harvest since 1970. The drought has also reduced forage supplies and raised hay prices throughout the West. Similarly scorching weather reduced Europe’s grain harvest by 8% compared to last year’s bumper harvest. Meanwhile, Russia and Ukraine continue to bomb one another’s ports and cargo s

Dairy producers just keep adding cows. After surveying producers, USDA revised its estimate of the June milk-cow herd upward by an astounding 33,000 head, resulting in a 52,000-head increase from May to June.

The dairy markets remained unsettled this week as prices shifted under the weight of evolving supply and demand dynamics. Different commodities exhibited markedly divergent trajectories with milk powder and cheese finding traction while, butter and dry whey slid lower.

There’s an unusual convergence in the dairy markets, with spot cheese, butter, and milk powder trading neck and neck in the $1.50s. All three products seemed pretty comfortable at these prices, and week-to-week changes were modest. CME spot butter slipped 0.25ȼ to $1.5125 per pound. Cheddar blocks fell 1.75ȼ to $1.555. Meanwhile, CME spot nonfat dry milk (NDM) climbed 1.75ȼ to $1.5775. The epitome of stability, CME spot whey powder inched up 0.25ȼ to 69.5ȼ.

Milk is starting to feel tight. Summer temperatures have reduced milk yields, and USDA reports that “some plants are noting lighter production, with insufficient supply to run full loads.” Fairlife is once again taking as much milk as possible, alleviating the temporary surge in spot milk sales. This week, spot milk changed hands at $1 to $5 premiums in the Central region, the loftiest late-July markups in at least a decade.

Scorching summer temperatures heated up the Class III markets in the first three weeks of July. But milder Midwest weather and a slew of reports brought a chill to LaSalle Street this week. On Tuesday, USDA’s latest Milk Production report confirmed that American dairy producers just keep adding cows. They crowded in another 19,000 cows in June, according to USDA’s best guess, and the dairy herd reached 9.677 million head. That’s 192,000 more cows than there were a year ago, n

U.S. consumers felt a bit of relief in June as prices eased somewhat. The Consumer Price Index, published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) eased to 3.5% during the month, down 0.7 percentage points from May due especially to softer energy prices. Lower gasoline prices were also the key driver that boosted the Consumer Sentiment Index (CSI), which rose to 54.4 points in the preliminary July reading published by the University of Michigan. The CSI now sits at its highest

The mercury is rising and hot summer conditions are taking a toll on cows across the country. High temperatures are causing milk output and component levels to fall with important implications for the milk market. Spot milk availability has tightened up in most areas and manufacturers that want to get their hands on extra volumes find themselves paying a premium. As component levels dip in the heat, cream has tightened up as well. This phenomenon has driven cream multiples up

Milk continues to gush across the U.S., though the pace of growth has slowed somewhat. USDA’s most recent Milk Production report, released earlier this week, showed that volumes across the U.S. ticked up by 2.3% year over year in May. Once adjusted for component growth the increase is likely to be even larger. While still strong by historical standards, this is actually the lowest year over year increase since April 2025. The country’s largest dairy states continued to record

The ink ran red on LaSalle Street once again this week. The milk powder market led the retreat, with dramatic declines in CME spot nonfat dry milk (NDM) Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. But the bulls evinced some cautious optimism on Thursday, the last trading day of this holiday-shortened week, when spot NDM found a toehold and inched up slightly. Spot NDM finished the week at $1.64 per pound, down 14.5ȼ from last Friday.

What goes up must come down, and the milk powder market is no exception to the laws of gravity. This week, CME spot nonfat dry milk (NDM) demonstrated Isaac Newton’s third law of motion, the one that describes equal and opposite reactions. Spot NDM dropped just as quickly anddramatically as it soared. It fell 26ȼ in five trading sessions to $1.785 per pound, a three-month low. U.S. milk powder exports held steady in April as merchants delivered on deals booked several months

The dairy markets are falling under the weight of heavy milk production. CME spot nonfat dry milk (NDM) dropped 4.5ȼ this week to $2.045 per pound. Every NDM futures contract settled south of $2, far below the spot market’s spring peak at nearly $2.30. Spot whey powder fell 3ȼ this week to 67ȼ, its lowest price since late March. CME spot Cheddar blocks slipped 0.25ȼ to $1.4725, a fresh three-month low. But butter bucked the trend. It climbed 2.5ȼ to $1.6925.