The Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) Class III milk price set a record high in May and moved above the Class IV milk price for the first month since last October.
- At $25.21 per hundredweight (cwt), the May 2022 Class III milk price rose 79 cents from April, surpassing the previous record of $24.60 per cwt set in September 2014 and up $6.25 from May 2021. Through the first five months of 2022, the Class III milk price averaged $22.67 per cwt, just 27 cents less than the January-May average in 2014.
- At $24.99 per cwt, the May 2022 Class IV milk price declined 32 cents from April but remained $8.83 more than May 2021. The January-May 2022 average stands at $24.44 per cwt, $1.36 more than five-month average of $23.08 per cwt in 2014.
- At $25.87, the Class II milk price again surpassed both Class III and Class IV prices, up 16 cents from April and $9.65 more than May 2021.
The May 2022 Class III-IV milk prices were supported by strong values for butterfat, protein and nonfat solids used in monthly milk price calculations.
- The value of butterfat dipped about 4 cents per pound from April to about $3.11 per pound.
- The value of milk protein jumped more than 44.5 cents to almost $3.87 per pound, the highest since USDA cheese purchases for pandemic food boxes pushed protein values above October-November 2021.
- The value of nonfat solids slipped about 2 cents to $1.63 per pound. The value of other solids decreased about 7 cents to 48.6 cents per pound.
The May Class III-IV price spread slipped to just 22 cents per cwt, limiting incentives for Class III-IV depooling.
FMMO administrators are scheduled to announce May uniform prices, producer price differentials and pooling volumes by June 14. Check back with Progressive Dairy for a summary.
