Wednesday, December 10, 2025

Association News

Upcoming Kitchen Table Meetings

New on Seen & Herd: The Water Quality Shake-Up: Paul Sousa Explains What’s Coming

This week on Seen & Herd, Paul Sousa joins us to unpack the significant water-quality regulatory changes headed for Central Valley dairies. He walks through the State Water Board’s Remand Order, the evolving CV-SALTS framework, and what producers should expect as nitrogen management, reporting tools, and compliance timelines shift in the years ahead. It’s a clear, straightforward update on a complex topic.

Listen In

Labor Law Compliance Updates Webinar for 2026

WUD is offering a focused webinar to help dairy producers understand the labor law changes coming in 2026. Attorney Tony Raimondo will break down the new requirements and discuss what farms should be doing now to stay compliant and avoid penalties. This session aims to give farmers practical, actionable guidance as regulations continue to evolve.

State News

CDFA Announces QIP Will Remain in Place After Referendum Fails

The California Department of Food & Agriculture has released the official results of the 2025 referendum on whether to terminate the Quota Implementation Plan (QIP). While voter participation was strong—63.76% of eligible producers cast valid ballots—the proposal failed to meet either of the statutory thresholds required for termination.

Only 40.46% of producers and 47.55% of the represented milk volume voted in favor, falling short of the 51% and 65% requirements. As a result, the QIP will continue unchanged. CDFA also disclosed details about invalid and ineligible ballots, noting these did not affect the outcome.

This marks the fifth petition-driven referendum on the future of quota and reaffirms, at least for now, the status quo for California’s regulated milk pricing system.

MARKET UPDATE

CME cheese markets continue to slide. While the US price is now lower than global competitors, it remains to be seen if that will stimulate more export interest. Spot blocks fell to the mid-$1.30s for the first time since 2023 with decent trading volume. Barrels dropped to the low-$1.40s.

The CME butter market has been relatively quiet since Thanksgiving, with the spot price staying in the mid-$1.40s. Reports suggest domestic retail demand is healthy and low prices are still encouraging export sales. Meanwhile, cream remains abundant, keeping buyers confident about supply.
Milk powder prices slipped at this week’s GlobalDairyTrade Pulse event. Whole milk powder eased to $1.47 per pound, while skim milk powder declined to $1.13.
Spot nonfat dry milk spent most of the last week climbing slightly higher. But with global milk output strong and demand so-so overall, analysts suspect prices will decline again.
USDA’s World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report was neutral for corn and soybeans. Yield, acres and production numbers for both were unchanged from the previous report. That’s unlikely to push the markets very far in either direction.

Nearby corn futures ticked up to just above $4.40 per bushel and export sales are strong. But a lack of major sales to China continues to weigh on soybeans, which dropped below the $11-per-bushel mark.
DMC payment rates rely on data released in the USDA Ag Prices report. There are two reports slated to be released this month to catch up from the government shutdown – on December 15 and 31. We are hopeful data for September-November will be released by the end of the month to determine actual DMC payment rates. We will fine tune our model with the updated data and publish figures as soon as available.

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