Cattle report eases production concerns
Downes-O'Neill dairy economist Bill Brooks said we're producing more cheese, butter and nonfat dry milk than needed, now that the Super Bowl is behind us and we've finished up our extended holiday season. While there is concern where milk production will be later this year, he believes the recent cattle report allayed some of those fears and stocks are building, which is causing downward pressure on prices. He doesn't expect a great deal more price slippage, nothing like last year's spring price fall.
He looks for January milk production to show a similar increase to November and December, up about 2.5 percent from a year ago. The weather in California was apparently very good, according to Brooks, and temperatures weren't bad for animals. They weren't good for fruits and vegetables, he said, but were good for cows, so "we're probably looking at a decent production level out there and that will allow us to see continued milk production growth at an increasing rate similar to what we have seen ever since the heat wave there last summer."
