# COVID-19 continues to hammer dairy prices

> U.S. dairy prices have fallen since the COVID-19 outbreak, with Class III down 26% and Class IV down 36%. School and foodservice closures cut demand, and exports slowed after March. The April WASDE lowered annual forecasts for cheese, butter, nonfat dry milk and whey.

- Date: 2020-04-28 · published 2020-04-28T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: macro · region US · magnitude high
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/5177-covid-19-continues-to-hammer-dairy-prices
- Commodities: [Milk (Class III)](https://feedsoft.ai/c/MILK.md)

## Why it matters

Lost foodservice and export demand left surplus milk with no outlet, pushing down milk class prices and the cost of dairy-based feed ingredients. Lower milk prices also weigh on dairy producers' feed purchasing.

## Read by commodity

- MILK: bearish ▼

## Linked price moves

| Commodity | Date | Window | Change % | z-score | Why linked |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| MILK | 2020-05-01 | 5 | -14.9% | -5.0 | School and foodservice closures cut demand and slowed exports, and the WASDE lowered cheese, butter, NFDM and whey forecasts, which is a bearish demand and price outlook for Class III. |
| MILK | 2020-04-28 | 1 | -11.6% | -7.2 | Dated the same day as the drop, it describes COVID-19 foodservice and school closures cutting demand and the April WASDE lowering cheese, butter, NFDM and whey forecasts, which is bearish for Class III. |

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| MILK | 2020-08-31 | [Uncertainty due to COVID-19 lowers dairy product demand](https://feedsoft.ai/events/51628-uncertainty-due-to-covid-19-lowers-dairy-product-demand.md) | -13.7% | -17.3% |
| MILK | 2020-03-25 | [COVID-19 pandemic rocks dairy markets \| Capital Press](https://feedsoft.ai/events/54272-covid-19-pandemic-rocks-dairy-markets-capital-press.md) | -0.2% | -17.5% |
| MILK | 2020-03-31 | [Mielke: Dairy prices hemorrhaging \| Capital Press](https://feedsoft.ai/events/4155-mielke-dairy-prices-hemorrhaging-capital-press.md) | -14.4% | -18.8% |
| MILK | 2020-04-21 | [COVID-19 infects nearly all commodity prices \| Capital Press](https://feedsoft.ai/events/6503-covid-19-infects-nearly-all-commodity-prices-capital-press.md) | -1.6% | -8.7% |
| MILK | 2020-04-08 | [Dairy outlook: COVID-19 lockdowns impact cheese and butter](https://feedsoft.ai/events/53640-dairy-outlook-covid-19-lockdowns-impact-cheese-and-butter.md) | -2.5% | -18.1% |

## Sources

- farmprogress.com: https://www.farmprogress.com/commentary/covid-19-continues-to-hammer-dairy-prices

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