The market administrators in the three federal milk marketing orders agreed to a temporary policy for the pooling of dumped milk due to surplus milk conditions. This and other U.S. dairy industry news can be found here.

Natzke dave
Dave Natzke
Editor / Progressive Dairy

Three FMMOs request relaxed ‘dumping’ requirements

Pool handlers in the Northeast, Central and Mideast federal milk marketing orders have requested a relaxation of the pooling requirements for dumped milk during the spring flush and summer holiday period due to anticipated surplus supply conditions, according to Erik Rasmussen, Northeast order market administrator.

The market administrators in the three orders agreed to a temporary policy for the pooling of dumped milk at the farm or other non-plant locations due to surplus milk conditions.

The temporary plant delivery exception will be for the period of April 1 through July 15 for all three orders.

Producers who take advantage of the temporary policy must have been pool producers for all of their commercially marketed production for the months of March through July 2016.

Advertisement

The milk must be picked up at the farm, measured and sampled for payments. The tanker test will be a weighted average of the producer tests. Notification must be given to the market administrator’s office by the next business day, or as soon as practical when the milk is dumped.

Feeding the milk to calves and other animals is an acceptable disposal method.

Dairy cow culling up slightly

U.S. dairy cows culled for slaughter in February 2016 were estimated at 256,400 head, 14,000 more than February 2015, but 9,100 less than January 2016.

February 2016 contained 21 weekdays (including one holiday) and four Saturdays. February 2015 contained one less weekday.

Year-to-date, dairy cows culled were estimated at 521,900, about 4,200 more than January-February 2015.

Goliath’s impact on cow numbers continues

Last December’s Snowstorm Goliath continues to impact dairy herds in Texas and New Mexico.

Compared to a year earlier, dairy cow numbers were down 12,000 in New Mexico and 13,000 in Texas, according to USDA’s February 2016 Milk Production report. On a daily basis, February 2016 milk production per cow was down about 1.5 pounds in New Mexico, and up just 0.5 pound in Texas.

Dairy cow culling slowed from January’s pace, as herd health issues related to the storm may be coming under control. However, despite lower cow numbers in the milking herd, culling is still ahead of a year ago, according to USDA.

February 2016 data for Region 6, which covers Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas, showed dairy cow culling totaled 37,600 head, up 4,700 head from February 2015, but 6,000 less than January 2016. Through the first two months of the year, Region 6 dairy cow culling totaled 81,200 head, about 13,600 more than the same period a year ago.

Class I base dips in April

The April federal milk marketing order (FMMO) Class I base price is $13.74 per hundredweight, down 4 cents from March and $1.76 less than April 2015. It’s the lowest Class I base price since April 2010.

Through the first four months of 2016, the Class I base average is $14.30 per hundredweight, down $2.17 from the same period a year earlier.

Cold Storage inventories grow

USDA’s monthly Cold Storage report was released March 22, reflecting volumes of dairy products stocks as of Feb. 28, 2016.

• Butter stocks were estimated at 235.5 million pounds, up 23 percent from Jan. 31, 2016, and 32 percent more than February 2015.

• Total natural cheese stocks were estimated at 1.18 billion pounds, up slightly from Jan. 31, 2016, and up 11 percent from February 2015. American cheese stocks, at 714.9 million pounds, were down slightly from January, but up 11 percent from February a year ago.

2015 per capita milk production

We've all heard about per capita milk consumption – how many pounds of dairy products we consume annually on a milk equivalent basis. Hint: It's about 600 lbs. per person in the United States.

What about per capita milk production? The Central federal milk marketing order administrator's office tracks per capita milk production annually, identifying states producing enough milk within their borders to meet the needs of their population. When compared with population estimates, the information helps reflect the aggregate supply and demand balance for individual states and regions throughout the United States.

According to the Central order's February Marketing Service Bulletin, 19 states produced enough milk in 2015 to meet the needs of their state residents.

Six of the top 10 milk production states are also in the top 10 in per capita production: California, Idaho, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico and Wisconsin.

The 2015 leader in per capita production was again Idaho, which produced 8,529 pounds of milk for each resident. The state’s dairy farmers produced nearly 6.8 percent of all U.S. milk in 2015, but Idaho residents made up only 0.52 percent of the U.S. population.

Wisconsin was second in production per capita, at 5,030 pounds. It produced 13.79 percent of total U.S. milk, but had just 1.8% of the U.S. population. California, ninth on the list, produced 19.6 percent of U.S. milk and is home to 12.2 percent of U.S. population.

Nationally, U.S. per capita production for 2015 was 649.1 pounds, up 3.0 pounds (0.5%) compared with 2014. U.S. per capita production growth is up about 25 pounds since 2010.

CWT assists with 6.2 million pounds of cheese, WMP exports

Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) accepted 11 requests for export assistance to sell 2.216 million pounds of Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese and 3.948 million pounds of whole milk powder (WMP) to customers in Asia, the Middle East and South America.

Bids were accepted from Dairy Farmers of America, the Michigan Milk Producers Association, the Northwest Dairy Association (Darigold) and Tillamook County Creamery Association. The product has been contracted for delivery in the period from March through September 2016.

So far this year, CWT has assisted member cooperatives to sell 12.209 million pounds of cheese, 7.716 million pounds of butter and 14.676 million pounds of whole milk powder to 14 countries. The sales are the equivalent of 393.4 million pounds of milk on a milkfat basis. PD

Dave Natzke