With cheap grain for feeding and a growing export market, US dairy farmers are looking forward to a strong 2017.
Forecast for 2017 milk have been raised by 75c (1.57c/litre) to $16.75/100 pounds or 35.16c/l by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Milk futures on CME for January to June 2017 contracts have increased by a similar figure.
Dairy farmers in the US are looking at a more promising 2017 than other farming sectors. According to speakers at the National Agricultural Bankers Conference in November, dairy farming may be the only sector in US to break even.
Replacement heifer prices continue to fall and are now trading at $1,690 (€1,609) per head, down by $40 since August but down by $290 (€276) from the same period in 2015.
US dairy farmers are experiencing problems attracting workers, and that is before Donald Trump deports all the Mexicans, as the jobless rate fell to a nine-year low of 4.6%. Fifteen million people have been added to the US workforce since 2010.
Source: Farmers Journal
