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Forecasting 2021 dairy prices higher, perhaps

A dairy economist is calling for dairy prices to see improvement in the year ahead, but he’s not overly confident in how the market will move.

“Who knows what COVID is going to do and how rapidly the world can come out of this recession that we’re in.

Mark Stephenson with the University of Wisconsin says his estimate for $17 to $18 milk prices is based off of the fact prices this year weren’t as bad as they could have been, and exports have remained strong.

“In March and April, this looked terrible, and at the end of 2019, we expected it to be a price recovery year.  It absolutely collapsed on us, but we’ve had a quarters worth of good payments.”

He says 2020 wasn’t a bad year for prices for farmers with the coronavirus aid especially if they were enrolled in the Dairy Margin Coverage Program and other risk management programs.

Stephenson spoke during a recent webinar hosted by Iowa State University.