Similar to other commodity markets, volatility in the dairy markets has increased over the last five years.  Price volatility has become our new normal, which has translated to greater risk to our dairy members’ business cash flow.
In response to this, Land O’Lakes Dairy Risk Management is introducing a new tool to our existing Risk Management portfolio. On February 3, member-owners will have the ability to forward price milk sales to Land O’Lakes with forward contract pricing adjustment based upon the Cash-Settled Cheese Futures CME market. Forward pricing milk during unpredictable markets provide our producers with the opportunity to “lock in” a forward price, thereby potentially reducing some of the price volatility risk.
Historically, these price-adjustment tools have been offered only on Class III and Class IV Cash-Settled Cheese Futures CME market Members will now have the opportunity to price their milk based upon the market supported cheese pricing, allowing for additional flexibility in market planning.
Land O’Lakes Dairy Risk Management provides our member producers with market fundamentals and price information on dairy markets to enhance forward contracting plans and manage margins for dairy operations.
Below is a summary of the current offerings available to members through Land O’Lakes Dairy Risk Management:

In preparation for the cheese forward contract program launch, all members wishing to participate or that are currently participating in existing forward contract offerings will be required to sign a new Participation Agreement.  The various form of such agreement can be found on MPOL under the ’Contracting’ tab. Members should select the agreement that is best matched to the number of signatures on your current Membership Agreement.

For additional information regarding Land O’Lakes Risk Management offerings, please contact your local field staff representative, visit Milk Producers Online under the ‘Contracting’ tab or contact Corey Ramsden at 651-262-3545 or email MPOL@landolakes.com