On this two-part edition of The Milk Check, listeners get a seat at the table during our mass balance report meeting, held after the release of monthly milk production numbers. Our traders gather to evaluate the data, forecast class allocations, share what they're hearing from buyers and sellers, and chart price data to predict market developments. 

Our regular cohosts, Ted, T3 and Anna, are joined by Don Street, director of global strategy; Gus Jacoby, executive vice president of the Fluid Dairy Group; Jacob Menge, director of risk management; Brianne Breed, vice president of cheese and butter sales; Joe Maixner, cheese and butter sales manager; and Diego Carvallo, director of dry dairy ingredient trading.

In part one, we evaluate the fundamentals of the dairy markets and what the monthly production numbers mean for different industry sectors.

In part two, we will look at anecdotal evidence in the wider marketplace, such as the consumer price index and international trade, to forecast dairy's future in the global economy.

Anna: Welcome to "The Milk Check," a podcast from T.C. Jacoby & Company where we share market insights and analysis with dairy farmers in mind. Today on "The Milk Check," we're doing things a little bit differently. Every month, the T.C. Jacoby & Company, we have a conversation that we call the mass balance report, and it happens right after the monthly milk production numbers come out. We get all the available traders in the company together to discuss what the most current reports and numbers mean. This month, our listeners will get an opportunity to eavesdrop on that conversation. This edition will be released in two parts, so be sure to listen to both to get their thoughts on a variety of topics, from production and utilization to inflation.

T3: Thanks, Anna. And thank you everybody for listening today. So when you're listening to our traders talk, the thing to keep in mind is a lot of times when we're trying to get our head around what we think prices might do, there're really three elements to that process.

The first element is evaluating the fundamentals. As you hear Don Street talk about what the milk production report has done and what we think milk production is going to do and where milk is gonna be allocated between the different classes of milk, you're really gonna be hearing us talking about the fundamentals.

The second part that goes into our evaluation is what I call the anecdotal evidence, which is the fact that our traders are talking to buyers and sellers of dairy products in the marketplace every day. And what we're hearing from those buyers and sellers also goes into our opinions of what the market might do.

The final thing that comes into play is where we are evaluating what we call the technical information. All of the futures and options markets we have in the dairy industry today and all of the spot auctions that we have in the industry today ultimately create a series of price data. And as you chart that price data, those charts often give you signals as to what you think this market might do next. And when you hear Jacob Menge, our director of risk management, talk, that's mostly what you're going to be hearing, him looking at those charts and telling us what those charts are hinting at. So I think this conversation today is gonna be a very interesting conversation, and I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

T3: Joining us today is Don Street, our director of global strategy.

Don: Hey, Ted. Glad to be here.

T3: Gus Jacoby, executive vice president of our fluid dairy group.

Gus: Hello,