Progressive Dairy summarizes factors potentially impacting dairy producer income based on the USDA’s latest World Ag Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) and Crop Production reports.

Here is a brief look at the news affecting dairy producers during the second week of October 2023.

Without approval in the 2023 Farm Bill, the Dairy Margin Coverage program expires at the end of the year.

Milk checks for September production will again reflect stronger protein and Class III milk prices. That will change on October production, with struggling cheese prices weakening the Class III price and widening the Class III-IV price spread, adding substantial Class IV depooling incentives.

Here is a brief look at the news affecting dairy producers during the first week of October 2023.

Compared to a month earlier, U.S. average feed costs were lower and milk prices were up, pushing the milk income margin up almost $3 per hundredweight from July’s historic low.

With a federal government shutdown possible, October’s dairy risk management calendar has the potential to be scarier than Halloween.

The Federal Reserve Board’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) voted to maintain the interest rate for federal funds at 5.5%.

The four-month decline in U.S. cow numbers may have come to a halt.

DMC margins are expected to improve through the end of 2023, but current futures prices indicate indemnity payments at top coverage levels are likely in 10 of 12 months.