Digest highlights

• NMPF board advances FMMO proposal
• Appeals court rules ‘gruyere’ is generic term
• Lynn named Agri-Mark president and CEO
• GDT index, cheese price softens
• USDA offers risk management training funds
• Ag producer sentiment weakens

• February FMMO milk class prices back to 2021 levels
• Global dairy product prices declined in February
• Dairy margins ended February modestly higher
• RaboResearch: The dairy squeeze is on

Intermingled with large population centers, dairy producers, processors and marketers in the Northeast and New England must stay in tune with local demands and global conditions. That results in a medley of opportunities and concerns.

A numerical snapshot of Wisconsin shows the state averaged about 1.27 million dairy cows in 2022, producing almost 31.9 billion pounds of milk. Both changed little from the year before.

Dairy producers in Texas and New Mexico continue to be on different trajectories. Preliminary USDA data indicates Texas milk production grew by more than 925 million pounds (about 6%) in 2022, topping 16.5 billion pounds.

Beyond sharing Great Lakes’ shorelines, dairy producers in Indiana, Michigan and Ohio have a lot in common. Most were aided by the wave of higher milk prices in 2022, putting them in their best financial positions in years.

The USDA released its latest Ag Prices report on Feb. 28, including factors used to calculate January 2023 DMC margins and indemnity payments.

March 2023’s Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) advanced Class I base price moved lower, falling below $19 per hundredweight for the first time since November 2021.