Sarina Sharp
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
Tighter milk supplies and lower milk solids output have stiffened competition among dairy processors. While there are no obvious...
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Market News
Sarina Sharp
- Aug 30
- 3 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
The bears went into hibernation a little early this year, and the bulls enjoyed raucous celebrations on LaSalle Street. Milk and...
Sarina Sharp
- Aug 23
- 4 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
U.S. milk output has trailed prior-year volumes for 13 straight months. In Wednesday’s Milk Production report, USDA slashed its...
Sarina Sharp
- Aug 16
- 4 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
Like Katie Ledecky in a Paris pool, the dairy spot markets hit one milestone after another. But perhaps the pole vault and high jump...
Monica Ganley
- Aug 9
- 4 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
As summer enters its final stretch, milk production conditions have mostly returned to seasonal norms. Hot temperatures continue...
Sarina Sharp
- Aug 2
- 4 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
Feed is cheap and milk revenues are lofty. USDA announced the July Class III milk price at $19.79 per cwt. While that was 8ȼ lower than...
Sarina Sharp
- Jul 26
- 4 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
As befits the season, the dairy markets heated up this week. The trade is becoming increasingly concerned that milk will remain tight...
Sarina Sharp
- Jul 19
- 4 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
Dairy producers have just cashed a very big milk check, and they’re looking forward to similarly lucrative payments for the rest of...
Monica Ganley
- Jul 12
- 4 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
Soaring temperatures and suffocating humidity are challenging milk production in many parts of the country. As the mercury...
Sarina Sharp
- Jun 28
- 4 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
Cheese stocks typically grow throughout the spring, as the flush pushes more cheap milk to cheese processors, and demand ebbs. But this...
Sarina Sharp
- Jun 21
- 4 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
Dairy producers did everything they could to keep their barns full last month after milk prices soared. They paid $3,000 or more...
Sarina Sharp
- Jun 14
- 3 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
Strong domestic cheese demand propelled Class III futures to fresh life-of-contract highs this week. On Thursday, third-quarter...
Sarina Sharp
- Jun 7
- 4 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
The bulls are back in charge on LaSalle Street. July through December Class III and a smattering of Class IV futures notched...
Sarina Sharp
- May 31
- 4 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
After notching a new spring high last Friday, butter values plunged early this week. The trade spent the long weekend considering...
Sarina Sharp
- May 24
- 4 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
By Sarina Sharp, Daily Dairy Report Sarina@DailyDairyReport.com Milk, Dairy & Grain Markets The markets are screaming at dairy producers...
Sarina Sharp
- May 17
- 3 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
The bulls ran wild in Chicago this week. For both Class III and Class IV milk, June through December futures notched life-of-contract highs.
Sarina Sharp
- May 10
- 5 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
Spring is in full swing. Family calendars are packed with end-of-the-school year concerts, field days, and parties. Farmers are dodging...
Monica Ganley
- May 3
- 4 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
Folks from across the dairy industry gathered this week in Chicago for the annual meeting of the American Dairy Products Institute.
Sarina Sharp
- Apr 26
- 5 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
The dairy markets swung wildly back and forth this week as they digested a slew of data and headlines. Monday’s Milk Production...
Sarina Sharp
- Apr 19
- 3 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
Class III futures came roaring back this week, led by a sizable rally in the cheese markets. USDA’s Dairy Market News reports that...
Sarina Sharp
- Apr 12
- 4 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
The dairy markets got off to a strong start this week, led by a historic move in butter. CME spot butter traded thrice at $2.97 per pound...
Monica Ganley
- Apr 5
- 4 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
U.S. dairy exports have struggled for the past year as weak global demand and uncompetitive prices caused exports to trail prior year...
Monica Ganley
- Mar 29
- 4 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
On Monday, the USDA announced that it had identified the mystery disease affecting dairy cattle in Kansas and Texas as Highly...
Sarina Sharp
- Mar 22
- 4 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
Despite signs of continued contraction, the dairy markets just keep dropping. CME spot Cheddar blocks led the retreat. They fell 7.75ȼ...
Monica Ganley
- Mar 15
- 4 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
Indecision continued to pervade the dairy markets this week as the price of most products waffled close to recent levels. While the...
Sarina Sharp
- Mar 8
- 4 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
The dairy markets are feeling around for a bottom. April through July Class III futures notched life-of-contract lows this week.
Sarina Sharp
- Mar 1
- 4 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
It 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.
Sarina Sharp
- Feb 23
- 3 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
The U.S. dairy industry continues to shrink. In the latest Milk Production report, USDA trimmed its estimates of 2023 milk...
Monica Ganley
- Feb 16
- 4 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
USDA released its 2022 Census of Agriculture earlier this week, providing the latest installment of the once-every-five-year report on...
Monica Ganley
- Feb 9
- 4 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
After a period of exuberance, the dairy markets ran into some resistance this week. Though milk supplies are far from plentiful, demand...
Sarina Sharp
- Feb 2
- 4 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
With the benefit of hindsight, USDA now believes there were many fewer dairy heifers on hand at the beginning of 2023 than previously...
Monica Ganley
- Jan 26
- 4 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
Milk production growth in the U.S. sputtered at the end of 2023, leaving the full year result nearly unchanged from the year prior. After...
Sarina Sharp
- Jan 19
- 3 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
Most Americans are irate about an unwelcome invasion across our unprotected border. I’m talking, of course, about the blast of cold air...
Sarina Sharp
- Jan 12
- 4 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
The dairy trade is feeling around for the bottom in the cheese market. Cheese output remains robust, but low prices have finally...
Monica Ganley
- Jan 5
- 4 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
The new year has officially begun. But as Auld Lang Syne faded into the background, the dairy markets were unsettled in the first...
Sarina Sharp
- Dec 22, 2023
- 4 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
There was a decided lack of Christmas cheer in the Class III markets this week. The January through April contracts scored...
Sarina Sharp
- Dec 15, 2023
- 4 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
Ink ran red on LaSalle Street this week. January Class III futures dipped below the $16 mark, a level signaling plenty of red ink on...
Sarina Sharp
- Dec 8, 2023
- 4 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
Cheese vats remain full, despite lower milk output. U.S. cheese production reached 1.19 billion pounds in October, up 0.8% from the...
Sarina Sharp
- Dec 2, 2023
- 4 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
U.S. milk production slumped deeper into the red in October as poor margins and tight heifer supplies trimmed the dairy herd. Milk output...
Monica Ganley
- Nov 17, 2023
- 4 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
The holiday season is upon us, but the dairy markets haven’t been feeling particularly festive. Nearly all products lost value over...
Sarina Sharp
- Nov 10, 2023
- 4 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
After more than a month in the stratosphere, the butter market plummeted back to earth. CME spot butter crash-landed today at $2.60...
Sarina Sharp
- Nov 3, 2023
- 4 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
There was a lot of red ink on LaSalle Street this week, and every product at the CME spot market finished lower. Most milk futures...
Sarina Sharp
- Oct 27, 2023
- 4 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
A poor showing at the Global Dairy Trade (GDT) Pulse auction spooked the milk powder markets this week and another month of...
Monica Ganley
- Oct 20, 2023
- 4 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
USDA released its Milk Production report this week, indicating that national output contracted in September for the third month in a row.
Monica Ganley
- Oct 13, 2023
- 4 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
Whether or not black cats or broken mirrors were involved, the butter market’s luck has changed dramatically. After repeatedly...
Sarina Sharp
- Oct 6, 2023
- 4 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
Like a mountaineer surveying Everest from K2, the butter market is exploring new heights. CME spot butter scaled a previously...
Sarina Sharp
- Sep 29, 2023
- 3 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
The U.S. butter market took off like a rocket. It soared 30ȼ this week and closed at $3.30 per pound, just shy of the all-time high...
Sarina Sharp
- Sep 22, 2023
- 4 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
Three-dollar butter is back. CME spot butter soared an astounding 28.25ȼ this week and closed right at the $3 mark. Exports are out of...
Sarina Sharp
- Sep 15, 2023
- 4 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
The Class III markets took a big step back this week. Cooler weather has boosted yields, providing a little more milk for cheese vats.
Sarina Sharp
- Sep 8, 2023
- 4 min
Milk, Dairy and Grain Market Commentary
Higher temperatures fired up the dairy markets over the past few weeks, but now the mercury has fallen and so have cheese prices.
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