More on Milk Production

I have had a number of conversations about the USDA “Milk Production” report:

http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/usda/current/MilkProd/MilkProd-08-18-2009.pdf


Two people called from California thinking the number shown for California was high.

Actually, there are three states in which USDA calculates the milk per cow has risen by an average of just about three pounds per cow, Florida, Virginia and Wisconsin.

My thought is that the entire dairy farm community in those three states did not get together and agree to increase milk per cow by a set amount. The numbers are averages.

Let’s say, hypothetically, that half of the farms stayed the same and half increased production. Those who increased would have had to raise production for July 2009 by six pounds per cow. Six pounds a cow and Posilac® is basically a thing of the past?

One thing for certain, the players at the CME did not believe the numbers. The CME went up today on cheese. Blocks are now $1.40/lb but, butter lost 2.75 cents.

When all is said and done, the record will show that milk is not going into NFDM in any quantity this week. Most of the powder plants are butter/powder plants. So, where is the butter coming from?