The country’s dairy farmers are in for another challenging year with milk farm prices only expected to improve slightly, following four straight years of low prices, experts said Thursday.
Missouri’s Gov. Eric Greitens signed the state’s budget on Jan. 5 which included $660,000 to fund a dairy risk management program created by the Missouri Dairy Revitalization Act.
As dairy farmers try to manage risk moving into 2019, about the only thing you can say is that there is uncertainty as to which risk management tools is best.
The milk price forecast for 2018 is starting to solidify, and good news is hard to find. U.S. milk production growth has slowed, but global supply is still hampering future price increases.
Troubleshooting financials begins with evaluating liquidity, solvency, efficiency and profitability. This will require updating the income statement, cash flow and balance sheets.
Current predicted Class III price for the first 11 months of 2018 is averaging $14.57/cwt. To face the year with optimism is to be sure dairy producers really understand their cost of production.
With cow numbers steady, increasing domestic milk production, robust inventory of dairy products, and other factors, there are no market signals to indicate strength for future milk prices.
