Here’s Progressive Dairy’s monthly review of April 2024 FMMO data to provide some additional transparency to your milk check.

The USDA’s World Ag Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report offers forecasts for dairy, beef and feedstuffs.

Despite climbing U.S. cheese shipments in March, U.S. dairy exports fell into the red with a 7% slip from a strong year-over-year performance in February. Here’s Progressive Dairy’s 30,000-foot view at dairy-related export categories.

Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) “mailbox” prices averaged about 96 cents per hundredweight (cwt) less than announced average “all-milk” prices in January. It was the widest monthly spread since November 2022.

Milk checks for April milk production will reflect a lower Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) Class III price and a historically low protein component value.

Quarterly average prices in April reached the same peak of $2,120 per head as seen in October 2014.

The USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) released its Agricultural Prices report April 30, which includes feed costs used to calculate March Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program margins and indemnity payments. Consistent feedstuff prices and a slight improvement in the all-milk price brought the average milk income margin to $9.65 per hundredweight (cwt).

Monthly dairy cull cow market trends downward in early 2024.

As predicted, milk prices recovered some in April with Class III at $15.57 per hundredweight (cwt) during the last full week of the month and futures jumping more than $1 for May and June. Unpredictability is still expected in the marketplace, and producers are encouraged to enroll in the Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) safety net program.