A Market on Borrowed Time

A Market on Borrowed Time

From The Milk Check by T.C. Jacoby & Co. - Dairy Traders

May 5, 2026 · 21 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the current state of the dairy market, focusing on nonfat prices and various market dynamics.

Nonfat is sitting north of $2.25 on the CME spot market. But the bigger question is how long it can hold. In the latest episode of The Milk Check , the Jacoby team breaks down a dairy market that feels tight, fragile and increasingly dependent on timing. Here’s what they’re watching: Why nonfat prices surged, and what could break them How protein demand is pulling milk away from dryers Why MPC and MPI are outpacing nonfat What the inverted futures curve suggests for the second half of the year How depooling and Class III–IV dynamics are shifting milk flows Why butter feels weaker, even in the middle of flush Plus, the team talks through what happens if the nonfat market doesn’t break soon. There’s still a lot of milk moving. Just not where it used to go. Let the Jacoby team help you get up to speed on the new dairy market dynamics. Click below and listen to The Milk Check episode 98: A Market on Borrowed Time. Got questions? We’d love to hear them. Submit below, and we might answer it on the show. Ask The Milk Check Ted Jacoby III: Coming up on the Milk Check. Jacob Menge : if this doesn’t start falling soon, I think there’s gonna be people that are trying to make…

People in this episode

Host: Ted Jacoby III

Guest: Jacob Menge

Topics covered

  • dairy market dynamics
  • nonfat prices
  • protein demand
  • milk flows
  • futures curve
  • depooling
  • Class III–IV dynamics

Keywords

  • dairy market
  • nonfat prices
  • milk flows
  • protein demand
  • futures curve
  • depooling
  • Class III–IV
  • butter

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: T.C. Jacoby & Co.

Products: nonfat, MPC, MPI, butter

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