Dairy Farmers Ready For Market Changes

Dairy Farmers Ready For Market Changes

Rick Worthington
Rick Worthington
Dairy Farmers Ready For Market Changes

Dairy markets are on a roller coaster. Milk, butter and cheese markets all reflect surprising changes with much higher demand this week.

John Heinberg of Total Farm Marketing says there is a combination of factors contributing to the market swings.

“Yeah, this market is on fire right now and realistically, it’s becoming a demand story. With obviously prices where they were, now with COVID-19 maybe moving a little bit more to the back burner, we’re starting to see some of the retail demand, bulk buyers stepping in, as well as the retail/food service/restaurant trade starting to get a little more active. And then beyond that, the export side of the equation is also warming up here very quickly.”

But he says- it's good news today, but you have to prepare for bad news tomorrow.

“COVID-19 is still here, what if things happen back in the fall, all of sudden kids are back out of school, we don’t start in September like we think we are. That’s going to really cause some demand issues. So, producers got to be ready and make sure you got something in place in these windows when you get these opportunities that you just didn’t think were going to be here three weeks ago.”

Hienburg says Dairy Farmers should talk to your market advisors, insurance groups, take a look at the DRP program. Since COVID 19 took hold in the US, Dairy has been particularly hard hit, with many dairy farmers forced to dump milk on a massive scale.

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