Milk Check

Small changes in managing and feeding cows can make a big impact in a dairy’s milk check. Feed quality and timing, stocking density and feeding supplements are some areas that can impact component levels in milk and deliver a better return on a dairy’s feed investment.

Producers can make a significant impact on their milk checks by increasing milk fat and protein in milk. Changes in feed mixing, frequency and other feed-management strategies can make a notable difference.

The crew at T.C. Jacoby & Co. comes back to the mic to predict how demand will respond to milk prices approaching record highs across the market.

Although yield of milk fat is more responsive to diet changes, nutrition can also influence milk protein yield. Unfortunately, nutritional modifications that increase milk protein yield often decrease fat yield, and vice versa. Producers should consider altering diets to take advantage of changes in the relative value of milk fat to milk protein. Through most of 2020 and all of 2021 the value of milk protein was greater than of milk fat.

Markets always have a tendency to fall faster than they increase. That was very evident again recently as Class III futures plummeted over a three-day period. Cheese prices fell as buyer’s needs for fresh cheese were filled temporarily. A price void developed under the market as buyers leap frogged over each other trying to get their hands on available loads before price moved too much higher. This is similar to what takes place at a farm auction when a few people want something and are willing to continue to run the price up. The daily spot market is a price auction with buyers and sellers doing a similar thing, but for a different reason. Even though the spot market trades for a limited time each day and sometimes can move more than the underlying fundamentals for a period of time, it is an accurate representation of supply and demand.