USDA bumps up milk price forecast a bit

Cheese and butter price forecasts for 2010 are little changed from last month in USDA's World Agricultural Supply Demand Estimates. But the Class III price estimate for 2010 was raised about a dime from last month due to higher forecast whey prices. The forecast for the Class III midpoint was $15.25 ($14.90 to $15.60) compared to $15.15 ($14.75 to $15.55) a month earlier. However, the Class IV price forecast was lowered reflecting weaker nonfat dry milk prices.

The all milk price is forecast at between $16.20 and $16.90 for 2010 (midpoint $16.55) compared to a midpoint of $16.60 in the January estimate.

The milk production forecasts for 2010 were raised by half a billion pounds to 188.9 billion, up from 188.4 last month. Milk production was forecast higher for 2010 based on the higher-than-expected January 1 dairy replacement heifer estimate. Herds are not expected to decline as rapidly as forecast last month, boosting milk production.

Dairy exports on a skim-solids basis for 2010 are raised, reflecting higher sales of cheese and nonfat dry milk. Import forecasts are lowered for 2010. Fat and skim-solids ending stocks are estimated higher for 2009 and stocks for 2010 are raised in the face of higher production.

ATTENTION COW JUDGING CONTEST PARTICIPANTS: Due to the poor print job of the Holstein class on the cover of our January 25 issue, we have reproduced the Holstein class on our web site. We apologize for the difficulty many have had in getting a good look at the cows in the Holstein class. We have made changes to ensure better print jobs in the future.

Check your score!

Our annual Cow Judging Contest has come to a close. You are probably wondering — how did I do? Well, now you can see how you did by using our online scoring key and reading the judges’ reasons for each class. Hopefully, you saved your placings. Visit us here to see the results and reasons. Add up your total and compare it to the 500 points possible. How close did you come to our contest winner? He had a perfect score.

Jersey Cow D Supreme Champion

For the first time since 2003, we received a perfect score in the Hoard's Dairyman Cow Judging Contest. This perfect score marks only the 78th time since the contest began in 1931. That is an amazing fact since we have received 5.5 million entries during the past 79 years.

Our perfect entry came from a 15-year-old boy attending high school in Ohio. He placed all five classes correctly which included choosing:
• B as the winner of the Brown Swiss class
• C as the winner of the Holstein class
• D as the winner of the Red and White Class
• A as the winner of the Ayrshire Class
• D as the winner of the Jersey Class

The Jersey was selected as the Supreme Champion by our panel of official judges with the Red and White taking Reserve Supreme Champion honors. The entire scoring key and official reasons can be found on pages 286 and 287 of the April 25 issue.

Entries for the 79th Annual Hoard's Dairyman Cow Judging Contest are coming in strong. Even though the contest closed on March 26, a few entries with good postmarks are still trickling into the office. To date, 25,260 entries have come from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. That's up some 1,500 from last year.