The dairy markets have been many highs and lows recently, but consumers are still purchasing, and dairy specialists say margins are expected to rise.

“2022 was kind of a year of highs, right? We had record high milk prices, but with that we also had really high feed prices. So while the income coming in was high, so whether the expense is going back out right, but with that margins still were quite good, relatively speaking, right kind of across the board. For dairy, so that was kind of nice. That had gave a bit of a reprieve for producers to be able to catch up on some things, maybe make some new investments that we’re seeing out there and also maybe give a little cushion,” said Leonard Polzin.

Polzin says there are some important policy decisions to be made as U.S. dairy looks to the future.

“So right now, one of the top areas of discussion, of course, are federal milk marketing orders, because as we look at not only the Farm Bill coming up, but potentially a federal milk marketing order hearing within the next, say, 12 months or less, looking at making some of those changes to reflect maybe the needs or desires or different changes in the marketplace within the industry, all the way from the farm, through the processing to the retail side. So there’s been a lot of work across different individuals within the university looking at that. So that way, as these policymakers and decision makers all come to the table, they can have the information there in order to make as informed a decision as possible. So that way all people in the marketplace, we can have an unbiased source in order to reference for that.”