Beef-on-Dairy, Trade Lift Dairy Margins

National Milk Producers Federation. Vice President of Communications, Alan Bjerga, has an update on us dairy economics.

“It hasn't been the best the last few months. I mean, a farmer can tell you that from their milk check, the dairy margin coverage program has had payments coming out for the last couple months. There does seem to be a little more reason for optimism. Later in the year, you're starting to see some of the supply and demand come into balance. You know, trade continues to be booming. Consumer demand, you know, continues to be high for a lot of dairy products, and we do expect a little bit of help next fall from the whole milk for Healthy Kids Act as whole milk gets brought back into schools.”

Bjerga says that National Milk has been working through the recent butter fat overhang with signs that margins are beginning to improve. Another supporting factor is the continued growth of beef on dairy production.

“You know, the other thing that's been really helpful has been beef on dairy you know, that has become a real source of revenue for a lot of producers. It affects different operations in different ways, but it tells a little bit brighter story than what you might necessarily see from the DMC margin or the milk check. It's really been a boon to this industry, and it's also a change in this industry. We're also trying to figure out how to make how to further be ways that farmers can can benefit from this and help manage their risk- going forward.”

Alan Bjerga with the National Milk Producers Federation.