U.S. milk production is on pace to end the year slightly below a year ago. The April to June production report from USDA shows milk was down for the quarter. U.S. farmers pumped 57.9 billion lb., a half percent lower than the same quarter a year ago. The drop is partly due to fewer milk cows - 87,000 head fewer than last year.
The amount of milk per cow is also growing at a slower rate due to higher feed costs, continued drought in the west and heat stress. The industry has still managed to increase milk per cow in four of the first six months of 2022.
Meanwhile, the latest cold storage report shows at the end of June total cheese stocks and warehouses were down from the previous month, but still 5% higher than a year ago.
That's the highest June cold storage total cheese storage report that we've ever seen. But it is a little bit lower than last month.
On the other side of that spectrum is all the cheese categories except for Swiss showed an increase of 5% Over a year ago Swiss cheese was up 9%. So, we're still gaining on a year -over-year basis. Still, a little bit of the needle is pointing toward the bearish side, but showing some light at the end of the tunnel.
Butter stocks were up 3% from last month, but are 20% lower than the same month last year.
AGDAY TV
July 29, 2022
dairyherd.com
