Dairy producers will see a little more in the milk check this month. The base milk prices for May production are a higher than April and a lot higher than May of last year. Class II base for May is $14.90 per hundredweight, up $1.12 from April and $4.19 above May, 2009. The Class III base for May is $13.38, up 46 cents from April and $3.54 more than a year ago. Class IV base is $15.29, up $1.56 from April and $5.15 more than last year. Another note of interest is the uncharacteristic $1.91 spread between Class III and Class IV.
The milk market is in a transition period right now as schools start to close for the summer, more milk moves from Class I utilization into other uses. Milk production is increasing in the Northeastern United States while the Mid-Atlantic region is at peak. Ag Marketing Service says production is starting to decline in the Southeast as heat and humidity builds however; Florida shipped 334 loads of milk out for the week compared to 287 last week and 238 last year. In fact, Daily Dairy Report notes over the last eight weeks, an average 235 loads a week came out of the Sunshine State…up 23 percent from a year ago.
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