牛奶定价——巨大的未知

Several years ago, I worked with my 牛奶 coop to forward contract some 牛奶. I called the coop 牛奶 pricing, a forward contracting expert, to explain the numbers. The comment I got was, “It’s a long formula, and I can’t explain it”. Needless to say, I was a little frustrated with that answer. 

I have to say that today there is a stronger push to be more transparent with 牛奶 pricing, but it is still many times a wonderful mystery. We are in the process of updating the Federal Milk Marketing Orders (FMMO) which has not been reformed since 2000. The results of this reform are yet to be revealed, but there are a lot of stakeholders as part of the process.

All 牛奶 prices for the farmer are noted in hundredweights (CWT). This is the standard unit that most farmers understand when talking about 牛奶 pricing. While the general public refers to 牛奶 by the gallon, which is 8.6 pounds, most farmers only think of it in pounds or hundredweights.

目前美国有11款fmmo游戏.S., and about 2/3’s of the 牛奶 in the United States is marketed through them. The rest is marketed independently outside of the FMMOs. The chart below shows the distribution of each order:

牛奶有4类:

• 第一类:液态奶
• Class II: soft products like ice cream, yogurt and cottage cheese
• Class III: hard cheeses, cream cheese and whey
• Class IV: butter and dry products such as 牛奶 powder/NFDM

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Market is where futures are bought and sold. Anyone, Farmers, and speculators can work through a broker and buy and sell on the CME exchange. They market Class 3 and Class 4, Non-Fat Dry 牛奶, Butter, Cheese Blocks, and Cheese Barrels. 市场每月结算一次, and the price is announced by the USDA-Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS). Even though they are separate 市场营销 points, they are connected since they are all derived from one raw commodity, 牛奶. The Class 1 price is derived from the average of Class 3 and 4 plus 74 cents. This formula changed with the 2018 farm bill and there is talk of changing it back to the previous formula that uses the higher of Class 3 or 4 as the Class 1 mover. 

Each FMMO pools there 牛奶 each month by the end use of 牛奶 produced to come up with a uniform blend price that is different in each FMMO. The southeast typically has a higher percentage in Class 1, and midwestern states are typically higher in Class 3, but the actual amount fluctuates monthly and annually with consumption and production patterns. As you can see from the chart below, FO5 had a 72.2024年1月的利用率为5%. All of these market prices can be found on the Market Administrator’s website: www.malouisville.com/

第5号联邦命令, 弗吉尼亚产的牛奶最多的是哪一种, with the exception of a few northern Virginia farms pays farms a skim 牛奶 and a butterfat price. 除了, farms are given a transportation credit and a processor assessment from the federal order. All of this is taken into consideration to come up with a uniform blend price for the entire federal order. 在这个国家的其他地方, 牛奶按成分定价, 牛奶中的脂肪, 和蛋白质, with protein being a significant factor in the price.

Once the blend price is announced, the farm's buyers then come up with a pay price for the farmers. In most cases, the 牛奶 is marketed through a cooperative. 合作社需要考虑运输的因素, 市场营销, and promotion assessments that are deducted from the farmer's checks. 每个鸡舍都独立管理这些成本. Some coops also add volume and quality bonuses for farmers as an incentive to produce a consistently high-quality product. 

When you ask a farmer how much they got for their 牛奶, they often refer to the “mailbox” price. The Mailbox Price is defined as the net price received by producers for 牛奶, 包括所有售出牛奶的款项, and deducting costs associated with 市场营销 the 牛奶. The Agricultural Marketing Service reports the average mailbox price for each federal order and larger reporting states. 再一次。, this price can vary from farm to farm based on actual butterfat and protein percentages, 牛奶质量和运输成本. 

There are a lot of people and agencies involved in the pricing of 牛奶. Because 牛奶 is a highly perishable product and it is a large percentage water, 它的定价可能会变得相当复杂. While the movement of 牛奶 across federal order lines can complicate the process there is always an accounting of where it went. Milk pricing can be complicated and difficult to understand, but there are a lot of checks and balances to ensure that it is priced fairly.

作者:

杰里米道伯特

Extension Agent, Agriculture and Natural 资源 Dairy Science

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