Where does your milk check actually come from?
See, line by line, what the federal FMMO formula says you should be paid this month — and where your co-op's numbers differ.
Free. No login. No upload. Nothing leaves your browser.
Example
300-cow Wisconsin dairy, April 2026
Federal Order: Order 30 — Upper Midwest · 765,000 lbs milk · 4.45% BF · 3.40% protein · ~85 lbs/cow/day
| Line item | Your check | Diff |
|---|---|---|
| Butterfat 34,042.5 lbs × $1.8692/lb | $63,632 | $0 |
| Protein 26,010 lbs × $2.5190/lb | $65,519 | $0 |
| Other solids 43,987.5 lbs × $0.3888/lb | $17,102 | $0 |
| Make-allowance (June 2025 increase) Embedded in federal Class III formula — never appears on the check
Impact of the June 2025 increase to make-allowances on Class III. What's this? | not shown on check | −$7,421 |
| Volume premium $0.15/cwt
Co-op discretion
| $1,148 | +$1,148 |
| Quality premium $0.10/cwt
Co-op discretion
| $765 | +$765 |
| Promotion (national + state) $0.20/cwt | −$1,530 | $0 |
| Hauling $0.55/cwt
Co-op discretion
| −$4,208 | −$4,208 |
| Cooperative dues $0.10/cwt
Co-op discretion
| −$765 | −$765 |
| Net check (before PPD) | $141,664 | — |
Note on PPD: Your actual check will also include a Producer Price Differential line — a per-cwt pool true-up that varies by federal order and month (typically ±$0.50 to ±$3.00/cwt). It's not shown here because the value changes every month and we'd quickly drift stale. Look it up on your market administrator's site or your check stub.
Federal Class III price for April 2026 was $16.82/cwt. The June 2025 make-allowance increase (cheese $0.20→$0.25/lb, dry whey $0.20→$0.27/lb) pulled about $0.97/cwt out of that price going forward. On this farm's volume — 7,650 cwt — that's roughly $7,421 per month embedded in the federal formula as a processor-cost assumption.
The 300-cow figure is anchored to a southwest Wisconsin operation cited by Darin Von Ruden (Wisconsin Farmers Union president) at the March 2026 National Farmers Union convention. That farm's January 2026 milk check came in roughly $50,000 below January 2025 — a number that combines this make-allowance increase with a separate butterfat-price collapse over the same period. The make-allowance portion of that gap is structural and recurring: at this farm size, roughly the $7,421 amber row above, every month. The butterfat-price portion is cyclical and reverses when markets shift; the make-allowance portion doesn't. Bullvine reference.
What's a make-allowance, and why $0.97/cwt?
A make-allowance is a per-pound deduction the USDA writes into the federal milk pricing formula. It represents the cost the USDA assumes a processor needs to convert raw milk into cheese, butter, nonfat dry milk, or dry whey.
Because it is subtracted before the federal Class III and Class IV prices are published, it never appears as a line on your milk check. The Class price you're paid against is already net of the make-allowance.
On June 1, 2025, the USDA raised these make-allowances under Final Rule 90 FR 5471. The current per-pound rates are:
- Cheese: $0.2519/lb (up from $0.2003/lb)
- Dry whey: $0.2668/lb (up from $0.1991/lb)
- Butter: $0.2272/lb (up from $0.1715/lb)
- Nonfat dry milk: $0.2393/lb (up from $0.1678/lb)
Cheese and dry whey feed the Class III formula. Butter and nonfat dry milk feed the Class IV formula. For a typical cheese-plant supplier in Wisconsin (Order 30), Class III is the dominant revenue driver.
Why "$0.97/cwt" — and not the full make-allowance?
The total make-allowance baked into Class III is roughly $4.33/cwt at current rates ($0.2519 cheese × 10.63 + $0.2668 dry whey × 6.18, where 10.63 and 6.18 are the Class III formula's $/cwt sensitivity to a $1/lb change in each make-allowance under the post-Dec-2025 component multipliers). But "no make-allowance" isn't a realistic policy ask — processors do have real costs. What dairy producer advocacy has actually focused on is the June 2025 increase: cheese MA went up $0.0516/lb and dry whey MA went up $0.0677/lb. The Class III impact of that increase alone is about $0.97/cwt — the amber row above. It's the structural policy drag added by the 2025 amendments, and the number the rulemaking comments were about.
Source: USDA AMS Final Rule, Federal Register 90 FR 5471 (January 17, 2025, effective June 1, 2025). Component price formula at 7 CFR 1000.50(l), (n), (o), (q).
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