Fluid Milk and Cream - Western U.S.
California milk production is inching up and dairy product manufacturers are staying busy, running their dryers near full performance levels. Overall, milk intakes are consistent with previous years' levels. The processing of the holiday dairy products is slowly ramping up.Retail milk orders and bottled milk demand are unchanged from a week ago. In Arizona milk production is going to the satisfaction of dairy farmers. Milk supplies are adequate to fulfill all end users' needs. Dryers are kept at full or close to full manufacturing capacities. Butter churning remains active. With a few schools on spring break or just coming back from spring break, there is less milk moving into Class I accounts. The storms and high winds in some parts of New Mexico have caused some disruptions in milk processing toward the end of last week. This week, milk processing activities are back to normal aside from minor milk diversions from their original delivery destinations to other plants. Milk production is generally flat to a bit up in the state. Class II and III sales are up, whereas Class I demand is somewhat lower. Pacific Northwest milk production is rebounding and increasing as spring issues into the region. Most processing facilities have plenty of milk. Manufacturers are running near full capacity. A few processors, however, report intakes are off a bit due to herd dispersal sales or remaining herd health issues from the winter storms last month. Bottling demand is stable. Milk production in the mountain states of Idaho, Utah and Colorado is strong. Intakes are in balance with processing needs, and most milk can find a home nearby. Discounted milk loads are not widely available. Initial reports out of Colorado suggest that last weekśs winter storm did not result in significant losses of milk cows. However, due to blizzard conditions and closed roads, some farms missed milk pickups and had to dispose of several tanker loads of milk. There was a very little change to condensed skim availability throughout the West. With current strong milk output, condensed skim is in good supply. Cream supply is adequate is the West. According to industry contacts, ice cream production is set to soon ramp up; therefore, cream demand will likely increase. Cream cheese manufacturing is also active ahead of the holiday. Currently, cream sales are stable and great price discounts are not easily found. Cream multiples for all Classes are 1.05-1.18.
National Retail Report Dairy ą Fluid Milk Summary
Advertised Prices at Major Retail Supermarket Outlets ending during the period of 3/15/19 to 3/21/2019
Half Gallon, All Fat Tests Weighted Average Price
National This Period Last Week Last Yr
Organic $4.09 $3.61 $3.76
Conventional $2.29 $2.39 $2.56
Regional (Conventional) Wtd. Ave. Low High
Northwest $2.69 $2.69 $2.69
Southwest $1.99 $1.99 $1.99
Regional (Organic) Wtd. Ave. Low High
Northwest $2.50 $2.50 $2.50
Southwest $3.90 $3.49 $3.99
Gallon, All Fat Tests Weighted Average Price
National This Period Last Week Last Yr
Organic n.a. $4.99 $6.04
Conventional $2.81 $2.70 $2.55
Regional (Conventional) Wtd. Ave. Low High
Northwest $2.75 $2.50 $2.99
Southwest $1.99 $1.99 $1.99
Regional (Organic) Wtd. Ave. Low High
Northwest n.a. n.a. n.a.
Southwest n.a. n.a. n.a.
Regional (Organic) Wtd. Ave. Low High
Northwest n.a. n.a. n.a.
Southwest n.a. n.a. n.a.
Western U.S., F.O.B. Cream
Multiples Range - All Classes: 1.0500 - 1.1800
Information for the period March 18 - 22, 2019, issued weekly
Secondary Sourced Information:
Milk pooled on the Pacific Northwest Order 124 totaled 604.4 million pounds in February 2019. Class I utilization accounted for 23.0 percent of producer milk. The uniform price was up $0.13 from last month, and $1.62 above the same month a year ago.
Milk pooled on the Arizona Order 131 totaled 413.7 million pounds in February 2019. Class I utilization accounted for about 23.6 percent of producer milk. The uniform price was up $0.16 from last month, and $1.85 above the same month a year ago.
The NASS Milk Production report noted February 2019 milk production in the 23 selected states was 16.0 billion pounds, 0.6 percent above a year ago. Milk cows in the 23 selected states totaled 8.72 million head, 47,000 head less than a year ago. The following table shows western states included in the report and the monthly milk production changes compared to a year ago:
February 2019 Milk Production, (USDA-NASS)
(Million Lb.) % Change From
1 Year Ago
Arizona 402 - 3.4
California 3235 + 0.1
Colorado 365 + 8.3
Idaho 1162 + 2.1
New Mexico 634 - 3.9
Oregon 205 + 7.3
Utah 176 + 1.1
Washington 509 -
Ice Cream, Regular (Hard) ą Cumulative Production January - January
Cumulative Production Percent Change
(1000 pounds) from
Report Month 2018 2019 2018
January 54,718 52,994 -3.2
