Posted: 06.02.2011
Wisconsin went one direction with milk price - while Minnesota went the other in May.
The Wisconsin Ag Statistical Service said the the states dairy producers should expect their milk price for the month of May to average $19.10 per hundredweight, or about $1.64 per gallon at the farm gate for ALL of the milk produced in the state. That's a drop of about 10 cents per hundredweight.
Meanwhile, Minnesota dairy farmers were actually looking for a 10 cent increase in their price! Projections were that the gopher state's dairy farmers would see a pay price of around $19.20 per hundredweight or $1.65 per gallon at the farm gate. California dairy farmers were preparing for the biggest drop in milk price - and again, the lowest milk prices in the nation. Early projections were that CA would be paid about $17.40 per hundredweight ($1.49 per gallon) in May - about 79 cents a hundredweight below what those farmers received in April.
Consumer need to remember, milk is a perishable product that farmers deliver to the market on nearly a daily basis - but they don't always know what the price will be for that delivered milk. Overall, the price received by a dairy farmer in a particular geography is dependent on how the milk is utilized within that area (fluid, cheese, butter).
Dairy farmers get paid based on the weight and composition of their milk. Four of the Federal milk marketing orders pay dairy farmers for their milk based on fat only, two of the Federal milk marketing orders pay dairy farmers for their milk based on multiple components (fat, true protein, and other solids), and four of the Federal milk marketing orders pay dairy farmers for their milk based on multiple components plus an adjustment for somatic cell count.
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