Andie Majewski, Graduate Research Associate, Department of Animal Sciences, The Ohio State University
As of the end of August, 10% of Ohio’s corn was ranked as excellent while 50% of Ohio’s corn was ranked as good, about 30% was ranked as fair, and the remaining 10% was ranked as either poor or very poor quality, according to the 2025 Corn Yield Forecast for Ohio (https://agcrops.osu.edu/newsletter/corn-newsletter/2025-30/2025-corn-yield-forecast-ohio-august-26). In the latter half of the summer, much of Ohio has experienced abnormally dry weather conditions, potentially forcing an earlier corn silage harvest compared to recent years and maybe reducing corn yield. In this current issue of the Buckeye Dairy News, the price of corn silage was updated as it is each year around the time of harvest. The price of corn silage is established based on many factors. These factors include, but are not limited to, the yield of the corn crop, the price of corn grain, its nutritive value, as well as the overall cost of harvest. The current average price of the 32-38% dry matter (DM) corn silage is $4.24/bu or $51.48/ton. This price is $0.10/bu greater than the average 2024 price which was $4.14/bu.
Figure 1. Actual and predicted cost of feedstuffs with 75% confidence interval (CI) of 21 feed commodities fed on Ohio Dairy Farms; September 24, 2025. Feedstuffs that are priced above the upper prediction price limit are overpriced (red bars). Feedstuffs that fall within the upper and lower limits of the predicted prices are breakeven feeds (grey bars). Feedstuffs that are priced below the lower prediction price limit are considered a bargain (green bars).
Economic Value of Feeds
Figure 1 displays the costs for the 21 reported commodities in Ohio. These results were produced by SESAMETM for the central Ohio region on September 24, 2025. In Figure 1, the bargain feedstuffs (green), the overpriced feedstuffs (red), and the breakeven feedstuffs (grey) are displayed, along with their average costs and predicted costs. These prices and estimates are from a point in time and their economic classification may change from what is reported, though they remain as useful a tool to predict the cost of feedstuff changes in a ration and to summarize market trends in the Ohio region. While bargain commodities can have a place in a dairy cattle ration, it is important to consider the investment opportunity that might come from feeding “overpriced” feedstuffs, as they may help to improve herd performance. Currently, the price of corn products is generally a bargain while soy products are generally overpriced. This is almost a direct contrast to the trends that were reported in the July issue, where corn grain and corn gluten meal were considered overpriced and some protein sources like soybean meal and soybean expellers could be considered adequately priced or a bargain. This fluctuation is not abnormal, and the reduction in price of corn based products likely reflect the influx in supply of these feedstuffs as we move through the harvest season.
The appraisal set, shown in Table 1, predicts the prices for the commodities that did not have a current local price. These commodity prices were predicted by SESAMETM and represent the estimated value at one specific point in time and are therefore subject to change. These values may be used as a benchmark if you are considering purchasing these ingredients for your dairy farm.
Table 1. Estimated feedstuffs prices not reported for Ohio, September 24, 2025.
Feed Nutrient Prices
The cost of net energy of lactation (NEL) increased by about $0.042/lb since the last report in July, though the cost of metabolizable protein (MP) and the cost of physically effective fiber (e-NDF) decreased by $0.11/lb and $0.06/lb, respectively. Values of nutrients are shown in table 2.
Table 2. Prices of nutrients for Ohio dairy farms, September 24, 2025, compared to July 28, 2025.
Milk and Milk Component Prices
The Class III milk price increased by $0.11/cwt compared to the price reported in July. The price of butter fat remained about the same, only decreasing by $0.01/lb. However, the milk protein price decreased more dramatically, by $0.57/lb. The Cow-Jones Index estimates the profitability of milk production, considering factors including the nutrient input costs displayed in Table 2, cow production metrics, and the current milk and component prices which are shown in Table 3. The prediction formula uses a 1500 lb cow, producing milk with 4.09% fat and 3.22% protein. The formula does not include factors that may affect profitability such as the cost of replacement and cull cows in the herd. This month, the income over nutrient cost (IONC) for cows milking 85 and 70 lb/day is about $12.42 and $11.94 /cwt, respectively. Both estimates are expected to be profitable, though the profit margins are smaller compared to the profitability estimates in the previous issue.
Table 3. Prices of milk and milk components, sourced from the Federal Marketing Order 33, for Ohio dairy farms, September 24, 2025, compared to July 28, 2025.
In September, many commonly fed corn based feedstuffs were priced as bargains while some protein sources were overpriced. Additionally, the milk price marginally increased, while milk component prices decreased since July. These factors suggest the current benefits of investing in corn-based feedstuffs to capitalize on these bargains.