USA: Supply of replacement heifers continues to tighten

Published Feb 9, 2024

Tridge summary

Despite a generally bearish market, traders in the US have become more market-friendly due to a recent surge in milk futures. Milk production has remained steady compared to 2022, despite concerns over future supply due to farm closures and a decrease in milk replacement heifers. Dairy cattle slaughter in December was the lowest since May 2021, and the number of dairy cows as of January 1 dropped by 41,000 heads from the previous year. The Class III market is being strongly supported by the strength of whey powder, and with butter expected to remain stronger than cheese, Class IV milk prices are predicted to stay significantly higher than Class III prices.

Disclaimer:The above summary was generated by Tridge's proprietary AI model for informational purposes.

Original content

To continue reading the article, log in with your account or register on MilkPoint. Get access to exclusive content! The recent surge in milk futures has made traders more market-friendly in the US. The price increases were short-lived, maintaining the general bearish market attitude. That appears to have changed, but not without some caution. Milk production was below the previous year during the second half of the year, but ended the year at almost the same level as 2022. Concerns about future milk supply may be increasing as farms continue to go out of business and the supply of milk replacement heifers has decreased significantly. However, it appears that cows are moving from farm to farm instead of going to slaughter. Dairy cattle slaughter in December totaled 224,700 heads in the month. This number represents a drop of 5,000 head compared to November and 41,600 head compared to December 2022. This is the lowest ...

Source: Milkpoint