MADISON, WI. August 27, 2009 (REPORT 34)
NONFAT DRY MILK - CENTRAL AND EAST
CENTRAL: Prices for Central nonfat dry milk are mostly higher and the market
tone is firmer. Intakes at several Central locations are lower this week as
farm milk production tapers off seasonally. Interest in condensed skim is
steady, but availability is constrained due to increasing bottled milk demand
for refilling the school pipeline. Those issues are curtailing production of
nonfat dry milk at most Central balancing plant locations. Current production
of low/medium heat NDM at plants that are drying is often earmarked for helping
rebuild inventories. Nonfat dry milk inventories are mostly sufficient to meet
near term customer needs so plants are focusing on powder needs for the balance
of the year. Manufacturer offers to the spot market are uneven and often priced
to favor inventory enhancement.
EAST: Eastern nonfat dry milk production has slowed due to decreased milk
supplies caused by declines in milk production and increased Class I demand.
Some plants have shuttered their dryers to assist with fluid demand, allowing
them to perform extended maintenance. Drying activity is focused on filling
current contract obligations and managing weekend deliveries. Spot market
activity remains light with closely held inventories awaiting further market
developments.
F.O.B. CENTRAL/EAST: Includes EXTRA GRADE and GRADE A
LOW/MEDIUM HEAT: .9500 - 1.0725 MOSTLY: .9500 - .9900
HIGH HEAT: .9600 - 1.1725
Here is the nagging question: If NFDM is selling in parts of the country for as much as $.99/ pound, and it is a cheap product to truck, why sell the stuff to the government?
I have but one question in all of this mess that is facing american agriculture. Is having a surplus of FOOD such a bad thing for this great nation? would the U.S. be farther ahead if the general public had to wonder where their next meal was coming from? I am sure it would help with the "obesity crisis". Maybe it is time for ALL u.s. ag producers to take 2 weeks off and not sell anything to any one. grain prices are bad, beef and pork and poultry are not good and dairy is terrible. maybe the whole country needs to see what an empty stomach feels like! American farmers are a minority by which the majority lives by. maybe it is time to show that the majority can't live without the minority. I told my nutritionist 2 weeks ago that we should dump milk for a week and he told me that I couldn't aford to do that and I told him that I couldn't afford to sell milk at a loss untill mid 2010 when it will hit break even again. in short I say let the masses starve untill the minority that holds the american wat of life in their hands can at least make a living for their families. think about it 1 week of production is 2% of us production 2 weeks is 4% of production and supposedly 2% of production makes or breaks the price of milk to the dairyman in our great nation.
ReplyDeleteA concerned patriot,
Robert J Lieb
I think your hitting the target dead on Robert and agree with your entire premise. Next time you talk to your "nut"rition guy explain to him that if we dump milk for two weeks and the price of milk goes up to $20 cwt, then it will take only two weeks for us to be back to even...pretty simple math.
ReplyDeleteI've heard this idea echo throughout the countryside. With Argentina beef soon to be on the decline, low beef calf numbers in this country and still no relief in the beef market, the beef producers should already be lining up next to us. Much of the pork industry is "company owned" with many of the private guys already out of business and the rest fast following; the private pork producers are ready for a change and soon.
A "farmer strike" will get the attention needed to make reasonable changes to the, in my opinion, corrupt, completely anti-American system we have in place now. But the system needs to be changed from this complex mess, to a very simple system, easy to understand by all. You see the simpler a system is, the harder it is to manipulate or be disordered, and the easier it will be to repair if it gets out of order. Forget about the WTO, high duties on imported food are a must for this country, perhaps a compromise of a simple sliding scale tariff would be in order on some food goods, based on the price of that item in our own market - the higher the price being paid to our producers, the lower the duty on the imports. This will not only keep the price at an acceptable level for us but also should raise the price paid to farmers in other countries.
Time to get off my soap box.
Jeff Suehring
OK here is the thing Robert. IMHO What true surplus? In the National Geographic there was an article on the food crisis. The farmers of this world the whole Globe can NOT produce enough food for the world now. So that brings into question why is food so cheap? If there is a shortage not a surplus. (and we all know there is a shortage that is, it just gets traded around so much that it seems like a surplus on paper and we all know that real life and what pencils out are two totally different things.)
ReplyDeleteAs for not selling product. Been there, did that. It doesn't work... they would just import and make it out like we are trying to starve our own country. Until we band together as an industry (dairy, pork, beef, etc) and hire our own spin doctors and lobbyist (even if it is our own people from various parts of the country and farming) we are not going to get anywhere.
Until we learn how to use the system like they have learned, we will not get ahead. However I don't know if we can morally or ethically sink to this level of deceit or kiss buttishness (yeah I know I just made a new word).
I read a headline (should have read the whole article) that says we should no longer say we are working to feed the world. I twent on to say we should say we are farming to make money. I have to agree with this more and more. Soon, maybe in the not to distant future, US farmers may not be feeding our own country. We will be driven out of business and we will buy our food from other countries. Scary, very scary and no one else seems to care.
ReplyDeleteJared Smith