World Agricultural Outlook Board Chair Mark Jekanowski discussed the USDA price forecast for different milk categories this month.
Jekanowski said, “A small reduction in our cheese price forecast for 2026 down 4 cents per pound, butter nearly steady up 1 cent per pound. We made a fairly large adjustment to our nonfat by milk price, lowered that by 7 cents per pound, now forecast at $1.70 per pound.”
“But important to point out that nonfat dry milk, it got historically high into mid-May, it spiked above $2 per pound and now it’s just starting to come back a little bit closer to normal. But even at current prices and our current forecast, it remains historically high. In terms of dairy class prices, a focus mainly on the all milk price for 2026, our forecast was reduced 55 cents per hundredweight, it’s now at $20.70 per hundredweight. And for 2027, nearly steady down 5 cents per hundredweight at $20.90 per hundredweight,” added Jekanowski.
Audio Reporting by Elizabeth Sanders for Southeast AgNet.