US dairy farmers face tighter margins this autumn as weaker milk prices meet rising feed, fuel and financing costs, All Ag News reports from Lubbock, Texas. The Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) margin fell to $9.93 per hundredweight in July, 95 cents below June.
The all-milk price dropped 80 cents to $20.30 per hundredweight while DMC feed costs rose 15 cents to $10.37. Soybean meal averaged $337.96 a ton, up sharply on a year earlier, and corn $4.26 a bushel.
The report says rising corn and soybean meal futures could push feed costs toward $12 per hundredweight in the last three months of 2026, and projects margins below the $9.50 maximum payment threshold from September through December. Diesel above $6 a gallon is raising hauling and on-farm costs, and higher interest rates and a volatile bond market could add to the cost of capital.
Milk prices are expected to stay relatively steady, leaving feed and operating expenses as the main pressure points through the end of the year.
Photo: M. Rehemtulla / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
Source: All Ag News
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