This September 2026 Dairy Market Watch report from Cornell CALS PRO-DAIRY examines component production, pricing, and utilization trends in the Northeast Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO #1) compared to national averages.

Component production continued to trend upwards in September, with Northeast butterfat averaging 4.32% (up 0.9% year-over-year) and protein at 3.29% (up 0.9% year-over-year), both slightly outpacing the smaller gains seen in the U.S. average. On the pricing side, the Statistical Uniform Price (SUP) less Producer Price Differential (PPD) decreased to $17.54 per cwt., while the PPD itself—at $3.15 in Suffolk County, MA—pushed the full SUP to $20.69, slightly lower than August. Fluid milk utilization decreased from August for all Classes except Class I. Class I utilization as a percent of total milk receipts remains at its lowest level since the year 2000. However total producer milk receipts, Class II utilization and the average producer butterfat percent all set new record highs for the month of September. Product-level data show whole milk, yogurt and cottage cheese increased utilization year-over-year. The report is authored by Lainey Koval and draws on FMMO and USDA Market News data.