Market Update
January 29, 2010
Retail Price Trends Anything but Normal in 2009
By Bob Yonkers, IDFA Chief Economist, Ph.D. Consumer prices overall rarely decline from year to year, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), but retail price trends were anything but normal in 2009. In fact, the average Consumer Price Index for All Items in 2009 declined 0.31 percent, the first year-to-year decline since...
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December 31, 2009
Dairy Market Update: What a Difference a Year Makes
By Bob Yonkers, IDFA Chief Economist, Ph.D. As the year comes to a close, dairy markets have rebounded to high price levels not seen prior to 2007's record highs, except for a few months in 2004. What a difference from last year at this time, when dairy markets experienced significant price declines, and many dairy producers were already strugglin...
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November 20, 2009
Dairy Market Update: U.S. Dairy Is a Growth Industry
By Bob Yonkers, IDFA Chief Economist, Ph.D. The market for U.S. milk and dairy products, both domestically and internationally, has been growing dramatically in recent decades. As a result, U.S. farm milk production has grown to about 190 billion pounds per year. Looking back, however, U.S. dairy has not always been a growth industry. Prior to 19...
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October 26, 2009
Market Update: How Quickly Things Change
By Bob Yonkers, IDFA Chief Economist, Ph.D. Less than three months ago, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced a temporary increase in purchase prices under the Dairy Product Price Support Program. Prior to that July 31 announcement, the U.S. Department of Agriculture had purchased (or agreed to purchase) 276.8 million pounds of nonfat dry mi...
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September 28, 2009
Market Update: While '08 Sales Decline, U.S. Ranks Third in Global Dairy Exports
By Bob Yonkers, IDFA Chief Economist, Ph.D. At last week's World Dairy Summit, conference participants received a complimentary CD with the 2009 edition of the World Dairy Situation published by the International Dairy Federation (IDF). This annual publication summarizes major trends in dairy production, consumption, trade and prices around the wo...
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August 31, 2009
Dairy Market Update: A Tale of Two Dairy Farming Systems
By Bob Yonkers, IDFA Chief Economist, Ph.D. With the exception of 2006, the dairy industry experienced the highest milk prices on record during the five years between 2004 and 2008. So far in 2009, however, farm milk prices have been among the lowest in decades, and farm profitability measures like the milk-to-feed price ratio are at record lows b...
READ MORE ››June 29, 2009
Market Update: The Real Story on Farm Milk Prices vs. Retail Fluid Milk Prices
By Bob Yonkers, IDFA Chief Economist, Ph.D. It is a common occurrence during periods of low farm milk prices to hear complaints from farm groups that retail milk prices have not fallen at the same rate. While there are many reasons why retail milk prices may not change in lockstep with changes in farm milk prices, the pattern over time is clear: a...
READ MORE ››May 26, 2009
Dairy Market Update: USDA Announces Dairy Export Subsidy Allocations
By Bob Yonkers, IDFA Chief Economist, Ph.D. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack on Friday announced dairy product volume allocations under the Dairy Export Incentive Program (DEIP), which were followed by Invitations for Offers. According to Secretary Vilsack, "These allocations illustrate our continued support for the U.S. dairy industry, which ...
READ MORE ››April 27, 2009
Dairy Market Update: Farm Milk Production Declines; Futures Market Signals Higher Prices to Come
By Bob Yonkers, IDFA Chief Economist, Ph.D. U.S. farm milk production declined for the first time in nearly five years as farm milk prices fall, but dairy futures contracts indicate higher farm milk prices may come by year end. U.S. farm milk production in March declined 0.3 percent from a year ago, representing the first year-over-year decline i...
READ MORE ››March 30, 2009
Dairy Market Update: Farm Bill Eliminated 'Tilt' under Milk Price Support Program
By Bob Yonkers, IDFA Chief Economist, Ph.D. I have received a number of calls in the past few months from IDFA members asking about dairy industry rumors of a "tilt." A "tilt," or tilt adjustment, refers to a price adjustment by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the purchase prices for butter and nonfat dry milk under the Milk Price Support Pr...
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