Tag: dairy economics
Dairy Data Delights, and Completes Your Summer Reading List
Impress your friends and dazzle your pub trivia team: Did you know that the average American worker only needs to work half as long to pay for a half gallon of ice cream as in 1960? Can you say, luxurious and affordable?
It’s in the numbers. Despite hourly wages that averaged $2.09 an hour the year John F. Kennedy was elected president (and both Joe Biden and Donald Trump were teenagers), the relative changes in wages and ice cream prices have made America’s favorite frozen dessert (Happy National Ice Cream Month) twice as affordable now, according to Labor Department data. What once took nearly 25 minutes of a U.S. worker’s hourly wage to buy takes less than 12 minutes now.
Butter holds a similar ratio, and whole milk and cheese affordability has also improved significantly. And still, some people long for the good old days.
You can find this information on page 85 of Dairy Data Highlights, a compendium of historical dairy statistics compiled by the NMPF/USDEC Dairy Economics Unit. The publication features facts on the evolution of farm sizes, milk production and dairy revenues, and the emphatic growth in the prominence of trade to the U.S. dairy economy. (Commercial dairy exports, 1985: 571 million pounds of milk equivalent. Commercial dairy exports, 2022: 40,581 million pounds.)
Suffice it to say, Dairy Data Highlights makes everyone’s summer beach reading list complete. And unlike current best sellers like “The Women,” or “On Call,” Dairy Data highlights is free – just download here.
That’s why the entire dairy community needs to know of this resource. See the rise in average herd sizes! Be wowed by the growth of processed gruyere exports! But mainly, know that this is out there. And use it as you need.
Fluid Milk Sales and Cheese Exports Surge Amid Production Decline
April DMC Margin Little Changed from March
The April Dairy Margin Coverage Program margin was $9.60/cwt, down by $0.05/cwt from March, just above the maximum $9.50/cwt maximum Tier 1 coverage level for the second month in a row.
The April All-Milk price dropped from March by $0.10/cwt to $20.50/cwt, and the April DMC feed cost calculation dropped by $0.15/cwt, on a $11/ton lower premium alfalfa hay price. Small changes in the corn and soybean meal prices offset each other on a per hundredweight of milk basis in the formula.
Available forecasts at the end of May indicate an increasingly high likelihood that the DMC margin will remain considerably above $9.50/cwt for the rest of the year.
Cheese Exports Boost U.S. Dairy Market
U.S. Dairy Exports Rebound as Milk Production Slowly Slips
Key Dairy Statistics Reveal Continued Production Decline
Dairy Products Stocks Fall As Milk Production Growth Remains Weak
NMPF’s Vitaliano Offers 2024 Dairy Economic Outlook
NMPF’s Vice President of Economic Policy Peter Vitaliano provides Dairy Radio Now listeners a look ahead at what farm-level milk prices will do in 2024. Farmers should benefit from lower feed costs, and with milk production expected to remain stagnant again this year, prices should gradually improve.
Domestic Demand Outpaces Production
Milk Prices Rise as Production Declines and Inventory Shrinks
Doud, Economists Explore Dairy’s Future
The future of U.S. dairy farming is bright as global growth and American capacity for innovation and production combine to create a powerhouse, NMPF incoming president and CEO Gregg Doud and the organization’s economists said in presentations at NMPF’s annual meeting.
“In terms of the world of protein, dairy is a huge part of the future,” said Gregg Doud, who will take over NMPF’s reins on Jan. 1. Doud, a former chief agricultural trade negotiator for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, said opportunities are there for U.S. dairy’s taking with robust outreach and appeals to consumers worldwide.
“My message to you today is very simple,” he said. “Let’s go. Let’s get it in gear.”
Dairy producers in the past year have faced operating margins at their lowest since the federal dairy safety net was adopted in its current structure in 2014 as prices plummeted from record highs. In a panel of NMPF economists following Doud’s remarks, forecasts showed an improving price outlook next year, even as inflation continues to pose challenges for consumers.
“We see a road to recovery in 2024,” said Will Loux, head of the joint economics unit serving NMPF and the U.S. Dairy Export Council. “Things aren’t all roses, we still have really significant headwinds on the demand side both here at home and abroad, but we look at the world with a lot of optimism still, especially in the long run.”
