The Dairy Dilemma: Will High Beef Prices Offer a Lifeline or an Exit Ramp?
- ZISK
- Jan 19
- 1 min read
The dairy industry finds itself at a critical crossroads. With cheese hovering around $1.35 per pound and Class III milk barely topping $14 per hundredweight, the familiar “low prices cure low prices” cycle is in full swing, typically signaling a wave of supply liquidation.
“Typically, that means some liquidation on the supply side,” says Phil Plourd, president of Ever.Ag Insights. “But the beef situation makes things really interesting. Will high beef prices make producers stay (keep the quasi cow-calf thing going) or will they make them go (use high cattle prices to pave the exit ramp)? There’s no way to know for sure.”
By Karen Bohnert
January 15, 2026 08:09 AM
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