Milk prices for 2009 are projected to rise as poor returns to dairy producers drive down milk production and cow numbers, USDA said today in its World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report.
Forecasts for all dairy products climbed from last month. As a result, the all-milk price outlook for 2009 is higher in April at $11.85/cwt. to $12.35/cwt., the WASDE report said. That’s an increase of 50 cents to 60 cents per cwt. over last month’s projections.
WASDE put the April 2008 all-milk price at $18.32/cwt.
Along with the industry’s recent higher rate of cow culling, the new herd buyout from Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) “is expected to encourage a more rapid reduction in cow numbers,” WASDE said.
The WASDE report projects 2009 U.S. milk production at 187.8 billion pounds, down from its March estimate of 188.5 billion pounds. It put the nation’s 2008 milk production at 190 billion pounds.
Strengthening prices through the year will result in lower sales of dairy products to the CCC, WASDE said.
The WASDE report is released from USDA’s Office of the Chief Economist. It incorporates information from a number of statistical reports published by USDA and other government agencies.
Find the full report at http://www.usda.gov/oce/commodity/wasde/.
Catherine Merlo is Western editor for Dairy Today. You can reach her at cmerlo@farmjournal.com.
