# 10% too much milk forces prices to plummet

> Dairy economist Bob Cropp estimated that about 10% too much milk exists because COVID-19 cut restaurant and school sales of cheese and butter. Butter, block and barrel cheese, and nonfat dry milk prices all dropped sharply from January to April 22.

- Date: 2020-04-24 · published 2020-04-24T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: macro · region US · magnitude high
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/6501-10-too-much-milk-forces-prices-to-plummet
- Commodities: [Milk (Class III)](https://feedsoft.ai/c/MILK.md)

## Why it matters

A roughly 10% surplus against collapsed foodservice demand drives Class III and other milk prices lower, and processors are cutting intake to rebalance.

## Read by commodity

- MILK: bearish ▼

## Linked price moves

| Commodity | Date | Window | Change % | z-score | Why linked |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| MILK | 2020-04-28 | 1 | -11.6% | -7.2 | Estimate of a roughly 10% milk oversupply and sharp declines in cheese, butter and NFDM prices through April 22 point to the supply-demand imbalance behind the selloff. |

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| MILK | 2020-11-06 | [A milk price forecast amid a pandemic](https://feedsoft.ai/events/50305-a-milk-price-forecast-amid-a-pandemic.md) | -0.8% | -34.7% |
| MILK | 2021-07-07 | [What does inflation mean for milk prices? - Dairy Producer](https://feedsoft.ai/events/46216-what-does-inflation-mean-for-milk-prices-dairy-producer.md) | +0.7% | -1.8% |
| MILK | 2020-04-28 | [COVID-19 continues to hammer dairy prices](https://feedsoft.ai/events/5177-covid-19-continues-to-hammer-dairy-prices.md) | -12.8% | -7.6% |
| MILK | 2018-07-14 | [Dairy farms weather long stretch of low milk prices \| AP News](https://feedsoft.ai/events/64182-dairy-farms-weather-long-stretch-of-low-milk-prices-ap-news.md) | -0.6% | +5.4% |
| MILK | 2023-03-17 | [As commodity prices slide, dairies brace for collapsing farmgate milk prices](https://feedsoft.ai/events/36864-as-commodity-prices-slide-dairies-brace-for-collapsing-farmgate-milk-prices.md) | +0.6% | +3.4% |

## Sources

- farmprogress.com: https://www.farmprogress.com/dairy-cattle/10-too-much-milk-forces-prices-to-plummet

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