Fluid milk and cream review — West

In the mountain states of Idaho, Colorado and Utah, milk supplies are still long.

Sept. 21

In California, farm milk production is trending slightly up after a sharp decrease a few weeks ago. According to some contacts, this period is the time with the lowest milk production for the remainder of this year.

Class I orders from retailers and educational institutions are stable. Milk supplies are less available in the spot market, but continue to be sufficient for manufacturing needs.

Premium alfalfa hay is limited in the market, but demand is solid. Interest in medium to low quality alfalfa hay is light to moderate.

In Arizona, farm milk is available to processors. Production is steady. Milk intakes are also at the same levels compared to last week.

Class I demand from schools is steady as pipelines are filled.

Seventy percent of alfalfa hay is rated good to excellent this week, compared to 65 percent last week. Topsoil and subsoil moistures are respectively 92 and 91 percent adequate.

In New Mexico, milk production continues to increase. Due to unforeseen events, milk delivery to some Class III manufacturing facilities was delayed. In addition, repair/maintenance work at some processing plants caused a decrease in Class III intakes. Class II interest is up, whereas Class I demand is lower. The fourth cutting of alfalfa hay is 90 percent complete while the fifth and sixth cuttings are 50 and 27 percent complete, respectively. Topsoil and subsoil moistures are both 62

percent adequate to surplus as they are being depleted by hot and dry weather conditions.

Pacific Northwest milk handlers suggest milk production has eased back further. Intakes are generally in good balance with production needs. Bottling demand has leveled off. Some rain has entered the region providing a relief to the long dry spell and heat. A few fires are causing the rerouting of milk loads, but limited disruption to production or processing.

In the mountain states of Idaho, Colorado and Utah, milk supplies are still long.

Excess milk loads, searching out a home, often move at discounted prices, some at $3.50 under Class III. Processors are pulling hard at available supplies, but a few manufacturers have some scheduled down time to get routine maintenance completed. The market for condensed skim is steady.

In the West, spot loads of cream are moving to butter plants at average market prices.

However, a number of manufacturing facilities stopped churning butter until Thanksgiving. Cream multiples are steady at 1.05-1.26. Some western cream is moving to Mexico at higher multiples.

According to the DMN National Retail Report-Dairy for the week of Sept. 15-21, the national weighted average advertised price for one gallon of milk is $2.45, down $0.40 from last week, and $0.26 lower from a year ago.

The weighted average regional price in the Southwest is $2.62, with a price range of $2.59-$2.69.

The weighted average regional price in the Northwest is $1.99, with no price range reported.

The NASS Milk Production report noted August 2017 milk production in the 23 selected states was 17.0 billion pounds, 2.1 percent above a year ago.

Milk cows in the 23 selected states totaled 8.73 million head, 66,000 head more than a year ago.