News

Milk prices on the rise

Recent low milk prices have forced many dairies out of business, but things are looking up for dairy farmers.

University of Illinois animal science professor Mike Hutjens says low milk prices have been common the last five years but are expected to go up in 2020.

“It’s going to take a little dip after the first of the year because we are coming off the Super Bowl and more purchases of products like sour cream and cheese, so milk prices are going to be somewhere around $17.50 to $18 for class three milk, but hopes to go up out of the quarters of 2020. So, we should be up about one dollar above last year and last year we were up $2 per hundredweight from where we were in the previous year, so that’s the good news.”

While prices could fluctuate, Hutjens says farmers should focus on what they can control – that being how they build their milk check.

“The industry is going to higher milk components because we are now eating two-third of our dairy products. We’re looking at trying to get that last couple pounds of milk. Thirdly, take a look at feed efficiency. How effectively are your cows taking feed and converting it to milk?”

Brownfield interviewed Hutjens at the Illinois Dairy Summit in Bloomington, Illinois.