DAIRY MARKET REPORT VOLUME 28 | ISSUE 10
10/30/2025
EDITOR’S NOTE Due to the ongoing government shutdown, some of the data normally reported in the Dairy Market Report is not available this month. This issue reports on the dairy data that is available.
OVERVIEW U.S. milk production grew by 3.6% annually during the June-August period, while total milkfat production increased by 5.3%, as the average component composition of producer milk continues to increase. U.S. fluid milk sales were 1.7% lower than a year earlier during the same 3-month period. U.S. average milk prices rose moderately in August from a month earlier to $20.90/cwt, while feed costs declined, resulting in a $0.58/cwt higher DMC margin for August of $11.52/cwt. Retail price inflation rose again in September as overall consumer prices increased by 3% from a year earlier. Dairy continued to resist inflationary pressures, with its average retail prices increasing by 0.7% from a year earlier versus 3% for all food and beverages.
COMMERCIAL USE OF DAIRY PRODUCTS U.S. fluid milk sales in August were 4% lower than a year earlier.
DOMESTIC COMMERCIAL USE
JUN-AUG 2025
JUN-AUG 2024
2024-2025 CHANGE
PERCENT CHANGE
(million pounds) Total Fluid Milk Products
10,043
10,214
-171
-1.7%
MILK PRODUCTION After it appeared that USDA/NASS was catching up with rapid U.S. milk production growth, it returned to making large upward revisions to its preliminary reported numbers. Its reports for August upped its preliminary July U.S. milk production number by 140 million pounds and its July preliminary U.S. dairy cow number by 25,000 cows. It now
shows July milk production rose 4.2% from a year earlier, while July cow numbers were up by 2%. The corresponding preliminary numbers for August are 3.2% and 1.9%. During the June-August period, U.S. milk production was up over a year ago by 3.6%, and total milkfat production grew annually by 5.3%.
MILK PRODUCTION
JUN-AUG 2025
JUN-AUG 2024
2024-2025 CHANGE
PERCENT CHANGE
Cows (1,000 head)
9,502
9,331
171
1.8%
Per Cow (pounds)
6,153
6,050
103
1.7%
Total Milk (million pounds)
58,468
56,451
2,017
3.6%
Total Milkfat (million pounds)
2,432
2,309
123
5.3%
Milkfat Composition of Milk (percent)
4.2%
4.1%
0.1%
1.7%