Butterfat Prices Continue to Fall. What are Milk Protein Prices Doing?
- ZISK
- 2 days ago
- 1 min read
The prior post showed that the producer price of butterfat is continuing to fall. This post will cover the most recent price trends for milk protein. If both butterfat and milk protein prices are falling, producers will be scrambling for survival. The protein price is dependent on the wholesale cheddar cheese price and the butterfat price. When the cheese price goes down, the price of milk protein goes down. When the butterfat price goes down, the price of milk protein goes up. The formula for the protein price is shown below.
Protein Price = ((Cheese Price – 0.2519) × 1.383) + ((((Cheese Price – 0.2519) × 1.589)
– Butterfat Price × 0.91) × 1.17)
The butterfat declining price improves the milk protein price, however, as shown in Chart I below, the cheese price is also declining which will lower the price of milk protein. The 12-month moving average price for cheese is at the lowest price since mid 2024. In January 2026 the monthly price of cheese was $1.40 per pound, the lowest price for any month in the years covered in Chart I.
John Geuss
March 19, 2026
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