September 19

9/19 - Butter prices hit record highs of $3.24 per pound last week before settling back to $3.13 on Friday (9/16). Year-to-date butter production through July is 2.2% below a year ago. Cold storage supplies are down 20.7%. With Thanksgiving approaching quickly, we are in the midst of a pre-holiday scramble by commercial bakers, retailers, and big end users to secure supplies in an extremely tight market. According to Dairy Market News, plant managers say limited tanker availability and labor shortages are inhibiting butter production increases. Fear of potential shortages will keep buying strong, and prices elevated, through October. A modest increase in milk output will help, but not in time to affect prices pre-holiday. The USDA is forecasting butter to average $2.85 per pound in 2022 and $2.3850 in 2023. Those numbers compare to a $1.7325 average for 2021.