U.S. Department of Agriculture agricultural economist Uthra Raghunathan has issued a positive outlook for the U.S. dairy market for the near future. U.S. milk production is expected to increase between 1.65% and 2.45% year on year in 2014 and coming into 2014, there will be strong dairy product prices which will slowly decline later in the year as production from Europe and Oceania increases putting pressure on U.S. exports. Cow numbers will increase in 2016 and 2017 before decreasing from 2018 to 2023 while output per cow is expected to increase between 2015 and 2023 at approximately 2% per year. Corn prices are expected to decline through the 2014/15 crop year and alfalfa prices at this time are 15% below 2013 prices. As international demand for dairy products increases, especially from China, and outstrips output from traditional suppliers, the U.S. will become a more important global dairy exporter.
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