# COVID-19 pandemic rocks dairy markets | Capital Press

> Dairy economists at the University of Wisconsin say the pandemic has turned dairy markets upside down. USDA reported February milk production up 1.7% year over year, and dairy exports have hit port bottlenecks. Powder prices have fallen from a futures forecast of $1.25 to about $1 per pound, and May Class IV futures are down $5 per hundredweight since mid-January.

- Date: 2020-03-25 · published 2020-03-25T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: macro · region US · magnitude medium
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/54272-covid-19-pandemic-rocks-dairy-markets-capital-press
- Commodities: [Milk (Class III)](https://feedsoft.ai/c/MILK.md)

## Why it matters

Weaker powder demand and rising milk output reduce dairy prices and pressure milk-based feed ingredients. Export bottlenecks limit the outlet for surplus U.S. milk powder.

## Read by commodity

- MILK: bearish ▼

## Linked price moves

| Commodity | Date | Window | Change % | z-score | Why linked |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| MILK | 2020-03-31 | 1 | -10.9% | -20.3 | Late-March coverage of pandemic demand disruption, with production up and export bottlenecks, set up the bearish supply/demand backdrop and weighed on dairy futures. |

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| MILK | 2022-07-12 | [Lee Mielke: Dairy product demand weakening \| Capital Press](https://feedsoft.ai/events/40633-lee-mielke-dairy-product-demand-weakening-capital-press.md) | -0.8% | -12.3% |
| 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 | 2020-03-31 | [Mielke: Dairy prices hemorrhaging \| Capital Press](https://feedsoft.ai/events/4155-mielke-dairy-prices-hemorrhaging-capital-press.md) | -14.4% | -18.8% |
| MILK | 2020-04-03 | [U.S. dairy farmers dump milk as pandemic upends food markets](https://feedsoft.ai/events/4154-u-s-dairy-farmers-dump-milk-as-pandemic-upends-food-markets.md) | -5.0% | -21.3% |
| MILK | 2020-10-26 | [Stephenson: Pandemic will weigh on dairy markets into 2021 - Progressive Dairy \| Ag Proud](https://feedsoft.ai/events/50651-stephenson-pandemic-will-weigh-on-dairy-markets-into-2021-progressive-dairy-ag.md) | -0.2% | +7.0% |

## Sources

- capitalpress.com: https://capitalpress.com/2020/03/25/covid-19-pandemic-rocks-dairy-markets/

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