Milk prices rise on global demand

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Retail milk prices that earlier this year were about $3.10 a gallon could be $4.25 to $4.50 later this summer, according to University of Missouri economist Scott Brown.

Brown and other dairy market forecasters said strong global demand for U.S. dairy products is the driving force behind the price increase. Global demand for products such as dry milk, whey products, cheese and butter impact the cost of milk.

Milk prices should peak in August, Brown predicted, and then could stabilize later in the year at about $3.50 a gallon.

Brown said he expects consumers to be “caught off guard’ by the increases, although, in his opinion, “Most people today already think milk prices are too high.”

Hay stock at lowest level since 1984

WASHINGTON — Farmers need to bale a lot of hay this summer.

On May 1, Missouri hay stocks were 625,000 tons. This is down 28 percent from a year ago and 71 percent below May 1, 2005. Hay stocks are at their lowest level since 1984, when it had dropped to 328,000 tons.

The amount of hay in barns or along field edges on May 1 is equal to 9 percent of the state’s normal hay production. The low stocks are tied to two years of drought and a winter with a lot of snow and ice.

Livestock prices, income down

WASHINGTON — Gross income in 2006 from sales of cattle and calves, hogs and pigs, sheep and lambs in the United States totaled $64.2 billion, down 2 percent from 2005, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Cash receipts from selling cattle and calves was $49.1 billion in 2006, and $49.3 billion in 2005.

The average U.S. annual price per hundredweight for cattle was $87.20 cents, down $2.50 from a year earlier. Calf prices dropped from $135 in 2005 to $133 per hundredweight in 2006.