USDA’s July milk production and price forecast was fairly straightforward; more production within most categories and lower prices from the previous month.
“The main story on dairy, kind of driving the whole outlook, is continued growth in the U.S. dairy herd,” said World Agricultural Outlook Board Chair Mark Jekanowski. “We’re looking at year-over-year growth in milk production of about 1.5 billion pounds. Higher milk production, that is putting some pressure on product prices. Our dairy exports remain relatively strong as well.”
Jekanowski said when it comes to prices, nearly all product prices were lowered from recent highs, but remain on par with historic levels.
“Cheese, we dropped by four cents per pound in both 2027. In both 2026 and 2027, our butter price forecast, we lowered by five cents a pound for 2026 and seven cents per pound in 2027,” Jekanowski said. “In our nonfat dry milk price, we lowered by nine cents per pound in 2026 and 11 cents per pound in 2027.”
Jekanowski added the Department didn’t make any changes to the dry whey price, but it was worth noting that the dry products, non-fat dry milk and dry whey, are coming off record highs as well as a lot of strength over the past couple of months.
If you have a story idea for the PNW Ag Network, call (509) 547-9791, or e-mail glenn.vaagen@townsquaremedia.com