In California, farm milk production is increasing as dairy operations are recovering from the recent heat wave. The milk market is currently balanced. Processing plants are running at or near full schedules. Intakes into most educational institutions are steady to slightly up this week. Interest from Class 3 (ice cream) is slowly decreasing.
According to California Department of Food and Agriculture, August 2017 pool receipts of milk in the state total 3.08 billion pounds. This is 1.7 percent lower compared to the same month a year ago. From January through August 2017, receipts are 2.7 percent lower from the comparable period in 2016.
The Value at Test price is $17.35, $0.99 higher than the previous month, and $1.36 above a year ago. The percentage of receipts used in Class 1 products is 14.18 percent. The August quota price is $17.91 and the over quota price is $16.21. These prices are $0.79 above last month, and $1.17 higher from a year ago.
In Arizona, milk production is moving up. Daily temperatures are slowly declining and contributing to better comfort for cows. Many manufacturers are preparing for the flush by doing their plants’ repairs/maintenance workloads. Class I intakes are unchanged from last week. Some contacts report that feed costs are decreasing. Farm milk is sufficient to meet all processing needs.
Milk yield in New Mexico is flat at seasonal levels. Contracted volumes are moving as scheduled. Requests for Class I are up due to schools in the Southeast drawing some milk to fill their pipelines.
Class II demand is slightly lower as ice cream manufacturers are starting to decrease their orders. Class III intakes are increasing.
Milk production in the Pacific Northwest is following typical seasonal trends. Handlers have refilled the school bottling pipeline and manufacturers have adequate to comfortable supplies of milk for processing needs. Available milk is readily finding a home within the region.
Milk production in the mountain states of Idaho, Colorado, and Utah is still strong. Industry contacts say most milk is able to find a home within the region, but supplies are heavy and some discounted loads are available. The market for condensed skim is steady. Cream supplies are steady to tight in the West. Cream sales to ice cream manufacturers are steady to lower.
Some contacts report that more cream is going into cheese production.
This week, cream multiples for all usages are steady at 1.05 to 1.26.
According to the DMN National Retail Report-Dairy for the week of Sept. 22-28, the national weighted average advertised price for one gallon of milk is $2.54, up $0.09 from last week, and $0.22 higher from a year ago. The weighted average regional price in the Southwest is $2.51, with a price range of $1.89-$2.59. The weighted average regional price in the Northwest is $1.69, with no price range reported.
Source: Capital Press
Link: http://www.capitalpress.com/Markets/20170929/fluid-milk-and-cream-review-x2014-west