The USDA has released its World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimate (WASDE) report for the month of August.
The USDA’s estimated milk production for 2015 remains unchanged from last month’s estimate of 208.8bn pounds (94.8bn litres). Weaker milk price forecasts in late 2015 and early 2016 have led to a decreased estimate for 2016 milk production of 213bn pounds (96.62bn litres).
US milk prices are forecast to average within a range of $16.75-$16.95 per 100 pounds (33.23c/litre to 33.63c/litre) for 2015 and $16.40-17.40 per 100 pounds (32.54c/litre to 34.52c/litre) for 2016.
Even though milk prices in the US have been more resilient than NZ or EU, they are beginning to suffer from increased imports and weaker exports due to the strength of the US dollar. Larger US domestic supplies are expected to pressure product prices for the remainder of 2015. However, the strength of domestic demand in the US and lower expected production of butter and non-fat dry milk (NFDM) do support an increase in the butter forecast price for 2016.