Each month the National Milk Producers Federation and Dairy Management Inc. produce a Dairy Market Report. The January issue is out and highlights U.S. dairy trade and dairy product prices for the first month of 2016.

The summary says annual growth in U.S. milk production slowed to less than half a percent during September-October. American-type cheese, dry whey and butter production increased faster than overall milk output, but milk production grew faster than the output of some other major dairy products. The U.S. average all-milk price peaked for the year in November at $18.20 per hundredweight. Substantial differences in supply-demand conditions in the domestic versus world markets caused milk component values to test the extremes of their historical ranges in the latter part of 2015. Milkfat was at the high end, with the various skim milk components at the low ends. The milkfat portion is estimated to have made up about two-thirds of the average milk check in November, twice as much as usual prior to last year. The monthly MPP margin was $10.01 per hundredweight in November, making any payments unlikely for the November-December period.