There is plenty of dairy product in stock these days

This column was written for the marketing week ending June 30.

Farm milk prices have not hit bottom for the year just yet. The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the June Federal order Class III benchmark milk price at $14.91 per hundredweight, down $1.20 from May and $9.42 below June 2022. It is the lowest it has been since May 2020 when it was at $12.14. The 2023 Class III average stands at $17.48, down from $22.95 a year ago and $16.96 in 2021.

Mielke Market Weekly

By Lee Mielke

Unfortunately, Class III futures on June 30 portended a July price at $14.14. August was at $14.91; September, $16.04; October, $16.86; November, $17.50; December at $17.65 and head higher from there into 2024.

The barrels finished at $1.345 per pound, 15.5 cents lower on the week, lowest since Aug. 6, 2021, 16.5 cents lower on the month, 86 cents below a year ago, but a penny above the blocks.

CME sales for the week totaled 49 cars of block, with 122 for the month of June, same as May. Barrels totaled 56 for the week and 106 for the month, down from 184 in May.

Marketing

Cash butter dropped 6 cents on June 26, then headed higher to a June 30 finish at $2.44 per pound. This is up 2 cents on the week, down 2.5 cents on the month, and 57 cents below a year ago when it was at $3.01 per pound. There were nine sales on the week and 67 for the month, up from 29 in May.

to date, 1,504,900 have been culled, up 75,600 head or 5.3 percent from a year ago. Dairy cows are also making up a larger percentage of the total cattle slaughter.

In politics, the National Milk Producers Federation called on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to “end dairy product mislabeling by manufacturers of synthetic, cell-based ‘dairy’ ingredients that are in violation of federal dairy Standards of Identity to prevent a repeat of the plant-based labeling fiasco that’s created confusion among consumers and regulatory headaches at the agency.”

The June Class IV price is $18.26, up 16 cents from May and $7.57 below a year ago. The 2023 average is at $18.59, down from $24.67 a year ago, and compares to $14.84 in 2021.

We have plenty of product in storage and butter stocks keep building. The USDA’s latest Cold Storage report shows the May 31 inventory at 366.7 million pounds, up 35.2 million pounds or 10.6 percent from the April level, which was revised up 3.8 million pounds, and was up 45.1 million pounds or 14 percent from May 2022.

The June 23 Daily Dairy Report said it is the largest May stock build since 1990.

American cheese stocks grew to 852.5 million pounds, up 10.6 million pounds or 1.3 percent from the April level which was revised up 3.7 million pounds. But, stocks were down 5.4 million pounds or 0.6 percent from a year ago.

The “other” cheese category jumped to 614.4 million pounds, up 9.4 million pounds or 1.6 percent from the April level which was revised up 1.3 million pounds, but was down 14.8 million pounds or 2.4 percent from a year ago.

The total cheese inventory stood at 1.49 billion pounds, up 21.9 million pounds or 1.5 percent from the April inventory which was revised 5 million pounds higher; but it’s 22.5 million or 1.5 percent below May 2022 — the fourth consecutive month to be below a year ago. It is the largest May stockpile on record, according to the Daily Dairy Report.

Chicago Mercantile Exchange dairy prices ended June Dairy Month under pressure. The cheddar blocks fell to $1.31 per pound on June 17 (the lowest since May 8, 2020) but reversed gears the next day and closed the week and the month at $1.335. This is still down 7 cents on the week, 16.75 cents below their June 1 closing, and 83.75 cents below a year ago.

Grade A nonfat dry milk fell to its lowest level since Feb. 24, 2021 on June 28, $1.1175 per pound. It inched up 0.25 cents on June 29, (the first gain since June 16) but back down on June 30 to close at $1.1175. This is down 1.5 cents on the week, down 5.25 cents on the month, and 68.5 cents below a year ago. Powder sales totaled 17 for the week and 49 for the month, up from 45 in May.

Dry whey fell to a record low 23.25 cents per pound on June 29 — the lowest price ever recorded since it started trading at the CME on Mar. 12, 2018. It rallied June 30 to close the week and the month at 24 cents per pound, down 2.5 cents on the week, 1.75 cents lower on the month, and 26 cents below a year ago. There were 62 loads sold on the week and 175 for the month, down from 218 in May.

The week ending June 10 saw 57,700 dairy cows go to slaughter, up 400 head from the previous week and 3,600 or 6.7 percent more than a year ago. Year

A letter to the agency stated, “Bored Cow’s product takes water and adds what we believe to be one unidentified, lab-engineered ‘whey protein’ along with a highly processed concoction of food additives, preservatives, oil, sugar and several added vitamins, and claims to have created ‘animal-free dairy milk.’”

“It is baseless, preposterous and absurd to call the resulting product ‘milk,’” NMPF President and CEO Jim Mulhern said in the letter. “In the interest of public health, the misleading labeling charade must end before it gets out of hand. FDA must act, and must do so now.”

Michael Dykes, president and CEO of the International Dairy Foods Association said, “Expanding the SNAP Healthy Fluid Milk Incentives Project means greater access to affordable, nutritious dairy products for the most vulnerable Americans.”

Lee Mielke is a syndicated columnist who resides in Everson, Wash. His weekly column is featured in newspapers across the country and he may be reached at lkmielke@juno.com. v

FSA accepting county nominations

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is now accepting nominations for county committee members for elections that will occur later this year. All nomination forms for the 2023 election must be postmarked or received in the local FSA office by Aug. 1.

Additionally, USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) is unveiling a new GIS tool to make it easier for producers to participate in the nomination and election processes.

Agricultural producers may be nominated for candidacy for the county committee if they participate or cooperate in a USDA program. A cooperating producer is someone who has provided information about their farming or ranching operation to FSA, even if they have not applied or received program benefits. Individuals may nominate themselves or others and qualifying organizations may also nominate candidates. USDA encourages minority produc- ers, women and beginning farmers or ranchers to nominate, vote and hold office.

FSA county committees are made up of three to 11 members who serve three-year terms.

Producers should contact their local FSA office to register and find out how to get involved in their county’s election. To be considered, a producer must be registered and sign an FSA-669A nomination form. Forms and other information about FSA county committee elections are available at fsa.usda.gov/ elections.

Election ballots will be mailed to eligible voters beginning Nov. 6, 2023.

This article was submitted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. v