US Dairy Prices Diverged: Butter and Cheese Fell, Whey and NFDM Rose

The US Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service published its National Dairy Products Sales Report for the week ending September 5, 2026. The report records wholesale prices received by qualified US manufacturers and showed different movements across fats, cheese and dehydrated dairy products.

Salted Grade AA butter, containing 80% butterfat and sold in 25-kilogram and 68-pound boxes, averaged $1.47 per pound. That was 3.9 cents below the average reported for the preceding week. Cheddar blocks sold in 40-pound units averaged $1.61 per pound, a weekly decrease of 0.1 cents.

Non-fat dry milk meeting USDA Extra Grade or Grade A specifications from the US Public Health Service averaged $1.73 per pound. Its price rose by 5.2 cents from the previous reporting period. Edible, non-hygroscopic dry whey of Extra Grade increased by 1.3 cents to 66.6 cents per pound.

The weekly figures were compiled under the Dairy Products Mandatory Reporting Programme. Information on non-fat dry milk came from 19 processors, while 17 processors reported cheddar-block sales, 15 reported butter sales and 12 reported dry-whey sales.

Participating manufacturers complete officially validated questionnaires. The reporting process excludes inter-company transactions and atypical contracts from the sales data used to calculate the reference values.

USDA wholesale dairy prices are used in payment formulas under the Federal Milk Marketing Orders. They are also used as reference points in cross-border dairy trade. The report’s figures therefore cover products traded by dairy processors and buyers in the United States and international markets, including Mexico and other parts of Latin America.