# Dairy farmers receive over 50 percent of butter’s retail price, less than 20 percent of ice cream’s | Economic Research Service

> USDA's Economic Research Service reports dairy farmers receive over 50% of butter's retail price but under 20% of ice cream's in 2024. The analysis explains how processing and marketing costs account for the gap between farm and retail prices.

- Date: 2025-06-25 · published 2025-06-25T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: report · region US · magnitude low
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/24222-dairy-farmers-receive-over-50-percent-of-butter-s-retail-price-less-than-20
- Commodities: [Milk (Class III)](https://feedsoft.ai/c/MILK.md)

## Why it matters

The data shows how much retail value is captured downstream of the farm, which is background for milk price pass-through. It does not signal a near-term change in dairy commodity prices.

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| MILK | 2017-03-06 | [Consumers Paid Less for Grocery Store Foods in 2016 Than in 2015 \| Economic Research Service](https://feedsoft.ai/events/71997-consumers-paid-less-for-grocery-store-foods-in-2016-than-in-2015-economic.md) | -1.3% | -0.7% |
| MILK | 2018-08-06 | [Monitoring Trends in Retail Prices and Farm Shares of Food Products \| Economic Research Service](https://feedsoft.ai/events/63539-monitoring-trends-in-retail-prices-and-farm-shares-of-food-products-economic.md) | +1.1% | +11.0% |
| MILK | 2021-08-09 | [U.S. milk-fat supply climbed from 2000 to 2019, as did the use of milk fat in cheese and butter production \| Economic Research Service](https://feedsoft.ai/events/45571-u-s-milk-fat-supply-climbed-from-2000-to-2019-as-did-the-use-of-milk-fat-in.md) | +1.1% | +3.9% |
| MILK | 2022-02-15 | [Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry Outlook: February 2022 \| Economic Research Service](https://feedsoft.ai/events/42651-livestock-dairy-and-poultry-outlook-february-2022-economic-research-service.md) | +0.3% | +7.4% |
| MILK | 2019-09-18 | [Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry Outlook: September 2019 \| Economic Research Service](https://feedsoft.ai/events/57030-livestock-dairy-and-poultry-outlook-september-2019-economic-research-service.md) | -0.2% | +1.7% |

## Sources

- ers.usda.gov: http://ers.usda.gov/data-products/charts-of-note/112838

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Data from Feedsoft AI (https://feedsoft.ai/). For information only; not investment advice.