Milk moving through the U.S. Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) fell to a six-year low in 2021 at just 61%, matching lows from 2004, 2012 and 2015. This data comes from the Measures of Growth in Federal Orders report, which the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service publishes. The report shows that before 2004, the share of federal order milk had never been below 61%, dating back to 1974. Class I milk totaled just 30.8% of all milk last year.

Class I milk in the FMMO peaked at 65.7% in 1967, dropping to a 28% to 44% range from 2000 to the present. The low from last year continues a decades-long slump in beverage milk in the U.S. A close eye will continue to be on beverage milk levels to see if this historical trend will continue.

Read more on U.S. milk moving through the FMMO here.