Friday Midday Dairy Market Update - Butter Price Jumps

OUTSIDE MARKETS SUMMARY:

CORN:	Unchanged
SOYBEANS:	2 Lower
SOYBEAN MEAL:	$2.20 Lower
LIVE CATTLE:	$0.02 Lower
DOW JONES:	189 Points Lower
NASDAQ:	221 Points Lower
CRUDE OIL:	$2.53 Lower

MIDDAY MARKET UPDATE:

The block cheese price declined 2.00 cents to close at $1.4200 with 9 loads traded. The barrel cheese price gained 0.25 cent to close at $1.4800 with 2 loads traded. The dry whey price gained 1.50 cents to close at 68.50 cents with 2 loads traded. Class III futures are 1 cent lower to 12 cents higher. The nearby June contract shows the only loss. The butter price jumped 9.50 cents to close at $1.6500 with 9 loads traded. There were 9 unfilled bids and no uncovered offers remaining at the close. Grade A nonfat dry milk gained 1.75 cents to close at $1.5975 with no loads traded. Class IV futures are 4-54 cents higher. Butter futures are 3.05 cents lower to 7.50 cents higher. The lower prices are in the March and April contracts. Dry whey futures are 0.25 cent lower to 0.75 cent higher. Cheese futures are 0.30 cent lower to 0.90 cent higher. Nonfat dry milk futures are steady to 4.00 cents higher.

Friday Morning Dairy Market Update - Milk Futures Remain Unable to Find Support

OPENING CALLS:

Class III Milk Futures:	2 to 5 Higher
Class IV Milk Futures:	Mixed
Butter Futures:	1 to 2 Higher

OUTSIDE MARKET OPENING CALLS:

Corn Futures:	1 to 2 Lower
Soybean Futures:	6 to 7 Lower
Soybean Meal Futures:	$2 to $3 Lower
Wheat Futures:	8 to 10 Lower

MILK:

The major reports for the dairy industry are now history for another month. The milk production report showed strong milk output and increasing cow numbers, continuing the bearish trend. The cold storage report was neutral, indicating good demand as inventory has not increased much despite strong production. The livestock slaughter report showed dairy cattle slaughter maintaining a slower pace. Traders have little else to focus on outside of daily spot trading. There is little reason for traders to get excited over the market for higher prices.

CHEESE:

Cheese inventory increased in May, but at a much slower pace than usual for that time of year. This keeps cheese inventory somewhat in line with a year ago despite higher cheese output. This indicates good demand. However, strong domestic and international demand has not been good enough to tighten supply.

BUTTER:

Butter has had a nice bounce over the past two days, and there is a good chance a further gain will be seen Friday, as there were quite a few unfilled bids at the close of spot trading on Thursday. However, the strength may not continue for very long. Higher prices may bring sellers back into the market more aggressively.

Thursday Closing Dairy Market Update - May Inventory Increased Less Than Usual

GENERAL OVERVIEW:

Class III futures closed mixed while Class IV futures showed strong gains. Milk futures moved in line with cash and made more sense than they did on Wednesday. The May Cold Storage report was about as expected. May dairy cattle slaughter was less than expected.

MILK:

The trading volume was significantly lower than on Wednesday. Steady cheese prices did not provide much incentive for traders. Some areas see milk output over the spring flush peak, while others have seen milk production declining steadily, yet output remains higher than a year ago. Hotter weather is expected in many areas of the country shortly, which will impact milk production and component levels. Whether this could eventually tighten supplies remains to be seen. Higher cow numbers and increased milk production may minimize the impact on the overall supply. For the near term, expect the market to remain bearish. The May Livestock Slaughter report was released, showing dairy cattle slaughter totaling 191,700 head. This was 23,400 less than April and 5,100 head less than in May 2025. This was the lowest May slaughter since 2007. It was also the lowest monthly slaughter since June 2024.

AVERAGE CLASS III PRICES:

3 Month:	$16.06
6 Month:	$16.67
9 Month:	$16.88
12 Month:	$16.95

CHEESE:

The May Cold Storage report showed American cheese inventory increasing by 3.3 million pounds from April, totaling 816.9 million pounds. This is 2% below a year ago. Swiss cheese stocks increased 1.2% from April, totaling 24.9 million pounds, up 10% from a year earlier. Other cheese stocks increased 7.8%, totaling 581.2 million pounds and nearly the same level as a year ago. Total cheese inventory increased 12.3% to a level of 1.423 billion pounds. This was 1% below April 2025.

BUTTER:

Butter futures showed substantial gains in response to the higher spot price on Wednesday and today. Strong buying interest could continue on Friday if buyers who did not accomplish business today turn more aggressive. Butter inventory during May increased 27.7%, totaling 335.6 million pounds. This was 8% below May 2025.

OUTSIDE MARKETS SUMMARY:

July corn closed up 7.75 cents per bushel at $4.1475, November soybeans closed up 22.00 cents at $11.5700, and July soybean meal closed up $4.60 per ton at $308.20. September Chicago wheat closed up 5.50 cents at $6.0150. August live cattle closed up $0.70 at $247.23. August crude oil is up $1.10 per barrel at $71.44. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 72 points at 51,921, with the NASDAQ down 118 points at 25,359.