Friday Closing Dairy Market Update - April Milk Production Was Up 2.7%

GENERAL OVERVIEW:

It was another negative day for milk futures, with Class IV contracts posting greater losses than Class III. The April Milk Production report was bearish. Milk production was up 2.7 percent, with cow numbers up 10,000 head.

MILK:

The June Class IV futures contract fell around $1.30 over the past four days as the bottom fell out of Grade A nonfat dry milk, and butter showed further weakness. The July contract fell nearly $1.50. It will be difficult for the market to recover from this. Continued weakness is expected in the nonfat dry milk price. The April Milk Production report was released, and it was bearish for the market. Milk production in the top 24 states was 2.8 percent above April 2026 and was the same increase as the March report from the previous year, after the revision. Milk production per cow was 3 pounds more, averaging 2,082 pounds. Cow numbers increased by 12,000 head from March. Milk production in the U.S. was 2.7 percent above a year ago. Milk production per cow averaged 2,069 pounds, up 14 pounds from a year ago. Cow numbers increased by 10,000 head from March and 190,000 head more than in April 2025. The total number of cows in the nation's dairy herd is 9.645 million head. The growth in cow numbers and the increase in milk production is not slowing down.

AVERAGE CLASS III PRICES:

3 Month:	$16.71
6 Month:	$17.30
9 Month:	$17.54
12 Month:	$17.58

CHEESE:

For the week, blocks declined 5.00 cents with 47 loads traded. The weekly average price is $1.5405. Barels declined 7.50 cents with 2 loads traded. The weekly average price is $1.5090. Dry whey declined 0.50 cent with 2 loads traded. The weekly average price is 68.60 per pound. The block cheese moved to the lowest level since February 20th. The barrel cheese price moved to the lowest level since February 19th.

BUTTER:

For the week, butter declined 10.50 cents with 118 loads traded. The weekly average price is $1.5700. Grade A nonfat dry milk fell 20.00 cents with 26 loads traded. The weekly average price is $2.18. Butter has moved to the lowest price since January 29th. Grade A nonfat dry milk is at the lowest price since April 9th.

OUTSIDE MARKETS SUMMARY:

July corn closed up 1.00 cent per bushel at $4.6325, July soybeans closed up 2.25 cents at $11.9650, and July soybean meal closed up $3.50 per ton at $331.90. July Chicago wheat closed down 1.25 cents at $6.4625. August live cattle closed up $0.25 at $239.60. July crude oil is up $0.50 per barrel at $96.85. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 294 points at 50,580, with the NASDAQ up 51 points at 26,344.

April Milk Production up 2.8 Percent

April Milk Production up 2.8 Percent        

Milk production in the 24 major States during April totaled 19.2 billion pounds, up 2.8 percent from April 2025. March revised production, at 19.7 billion pounds, was up 2.8 percent from March 2025. The March revision represented an increase of 71 million pounds or 0.4 percent from last month's preliminary production estimate.  Production per cow in the 24 major States averaged 2,082 pounds for April, 13 pounds above April 2025.   The number of milk cows on farms in the 24 major States was 9.21 million head, 193,000 head more than April 2025, and 12,000 head more than March 2026.   

April Milk Production in the United States up 2.7 Percent  

Milk production in the United States during April totaled 20.0 billion pounds, up 2.7 percent from April 2025.  Production per cow in the United States averaged 2,069 pounds for April, 14 pounds above April 2025.  The number of milk cows on farms in the United States was 9.65 million head, 190,000 head more than April 2025, and 10,000 head more than March 2026. 

 

Friday Midday Dairy Market Summary - Nonfat Dry Milk Shows Further Weakness

OUTSIDE MARKETS SUMMARY:

CORN:	Unchanged
SOYBEANS:	3 Higher
SOYBEAN MEAL:	$3.80 Higher
LIVE CATTLE:	$0.17 Lower
DOW JONES:	189 Points Lower
NASDAQ:	25 Points Lower
CRUDE OIL:	$0.83 Lower

MIDDAY MARKET UPDATE:

The block cheese price declined 3.50 cents to close at $1.5050 with one load traded. The barrel cheese price remained unchanged at $1.48 with no loads traded. The dry why price declined 0.75 cent to close at 68.00 cents with one load traded. The block cheese price has declined to the lowest level since February 20th. Class III futures are 23 cents lower to 5 cents higher. The butter price increased a penny to close at $1.5350 with 23 loads traded. Grade A nonfat dry milk declined 2.00 cents to close at $2.0725 with 18 loads traded. There were 28 unfilled bids and 6 uncovered offers remaining at the close of spot trading. Class IV futures are 32 cents lower in the June contract and 38 cents lower in the July contract. These are the only 2 centracts that have traded. Butter futures are 1.00 cents lower to 1.00 cents higher on light trading activity. Dry whey futures are 2.25 cets lower to 0.70 cents higher. Cheese futures are 1.60 cents lower to 0.40 cent higher. The April Milk Production report will be released today. I estimate production to be 2.0 percent higher than a year ago. I estimate cow numbers to be 5,000 head higher than March.