Milk production expected to increase in 2021, USDA says

IARN — The US Department of Agriculture is expecting milk production to increase in 2021.

Mark Jekanowski, Chair of the World Agricultural Outlook Board, says USDA has increased its milk production forecast for 2020 and 2021. In both cases, he says the forecast reflects higher milk per cow and higher cow numbers.

“If feed costs weren’t increasing, we would likely see even stronger milk production growth,” Jekanowski said. “We reduced our import basis dairy product imports. That mainly reflects a reduction in butter fat products, but at the same time, we also increased our export forecast. That also is reflecting higher exports of butter fat products. Some offsetting factors there.”

Jekanowski provides details of USDA’s forecast for higher prices, month over month, for dairy products.

“For 2021, we actually adjusted upwards our price forecast for all of the primary dairy categories – butter, non-fat, dry – reflecting expectations of strong demand, and also higher prices of dry weight which heavily reflects strong export demand,” Jekanowski said. “So, with dairy product prices higher, the class price forecasts also increased and the all milk price forecast increased.”

“The bottom line,” he continued, “we raised our all milk price forecast by a dollar and five cents per hundred weight this month. Relative to where we were in December, that’s still a year over year decline of 65 cents per hundred weight, but it’s an obvious improvement from where we were forecasting just one month ago.”

Iowa nationally ranks 12th in total milk production and 8th in milk production per cow. Iowa’s milk production represents 2.45 percent of the total U.S. milk production.

Story courtesy of the Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network

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