Dairy Trends
January 9, 2026
All dairy pricing trends are based on USDA and CME data as of January 7, 2026.
Butter ↘
Cheese ↘
Shell Eggs ↘
Butter
The butter market continued to drop, as the abundance of cream remains burdensome for the industry, although the weakness in prices has continued to uncover additional order interest from both domestic and global end users, which should prevent prices from declining much further, according to analysts. Meanwhile, they expect exports to remain competitive, and believe that domestic demand will be the key to how low prices can fall.
Cheese
After a short-lived rally over the holidays, the CME block market declined this week, and continues to hover near 2-1/2-year lows. Solid export interest has limited large scale growth in domestic supplies, keeping a floor on prices, according to analysts, who note that world prices are starting to stabilize, which should support strong U.S. sales in Q1.
Shell Eggs
Urner Barry reported that all shell egg markets continued to decline over the past week, driven by soft demand and abundant supply. Updated monthly flock data was released by the USDA, showing the U.S. table egg laying flock at 302.85 million as of December 1, which is down 3% year-over-year. Despite flocks being below both last year’s levels and historical averages, shell egg supplies are readily available, according to analysts. Incidents of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) continue to spread, but with little impact to the commercial laying flock. The USDA reports 20 confirmed cases affecting commercial flocks over the last 30 days, impacting over 800,000 birds.
Milk & Cream
Domestic milk production remains strong, while record butterfat levels are helping to stretch that milk even further, according to analysts, who report that historically cheap feed costs and high demand for dairy calves to support the beef industry have helped dairy farmer profitability, thereby supporting herd expansion. The USDA reported that November fluid milk output was 4.5% higher year-over-year, and was the largest November output on record.
Commodity Trends at Your Fingertips: Dive Into the Farmer's Report
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