Here is a summary of the latest news affecting your dairy operation's bottom line for early May.

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.

The House Committee on Agriculture Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-Pennsylvania) and U.S. Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-Michigan) each released overviews of their plans and priorities for the 2024 Farm Bill on May 1.

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).

A dairy in Colorado has recently tested positive for the highly pathogenic avian influenza A (HPAI) H5N1 virus. This brings the total number of confirmed cases to 34 across nine states, according to the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).

Last week, the USDA released its final rule updating meal standards for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the School Breakfast Program (SBP). The updated rule encompasses three key victories for dairy and child nutrition, and has drawn applause from industry stakeholders.

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.

The USDA revised the February 2024 milk production estimate slightly lower. With the revisions, both U.S. and major state U.S. production were down about 0.1% from USDA’s preliminary estimates a month earlier.