Once cast as nutritional villains due to their saturated-fat content, full-fat dairy products fell out of favor beginning in the 1970s. But nutrition research in the past 15 years suggests
Converging circumstances weigh down PPDs
In the 19 years prior to 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic, the monthly difference between Class III and Class IV prices had exceeded $5 per hundredweight (cwt.) on only six occasions. In 2020, that difference occurred six more times. For deeper perspective . . . that was just six times in 228 months prepandemic and six times in the first 12 pandemic months.
“In two of those months, the spread was greater than $10, and in three more of those months, it was greater than $7 per cwt.,” Cornell’s Chris Wolf shared during the May 5
These wide differences in Class III and Class IV prices have framed the discussion surrounding negative Producer Price Differentials (PPDs) in 2020 and have contributed a great deal of fodder to the discussion of Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) change.