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Analyst sees USDA dairy report as “bullish”

Agricultural economist Mary Ledman with Rabobank Research says Friday’s USDA dairy production is up but, “I look at this report being more bullish.”

Ledman tells Brownfield the dairy herd size is down and milk production is up 1.3% nationwide, and 1.5% in the major dairy states, but the increase is lower than expected.  “The prior two milk production reports that we had for 2018 showed U.S. milk production up 1.8% versus a year ago and an ever-growing dairy herd.  The March report shows USDA has tempered their cow numbers, decreasing the January and February numbers down by 2,000 head.”

She tells Brownfield the numbers might not look like much, but they’re significant.  “That three-tenths of a percent over the historical trends, that’s a lot of milk.”

Ledman says the March USDA report is good news for dairy producers.