Monday Morning Dairy Market Update - Significant Trading Activity, Higher Prices Overnight

OPENING CALLS:

Class III Milk Futures:	8 to 12 Higher
Class IV Milk Futures:	10 to 15 Higher
Butter Futures:	1 to 2 Higher

OUTSIDE MARKET OPENING CALLS:

Corn Futures:	7 to 9 Lower
Soybean Futures:	9 to 11 Lower
Soybean Meal Futures:	$1 to $2 Lower
Wheat Futures:	5 to 6 Lower

MILK:

Traders were active in overnight trade. Futures were higher in the Class III contracts, except for June. Tuesday is the last day to trade June futures and options and the June Federal Order prices will be announced Wednesday. Surprisingly, there were 129 contracts traded in June overnight, as it is a cash-settled contract and mostly priced by the trade. July had over 200 contracts traded, with August over 100. Other contract months also had trading activity. Class IV futures had activity in the September and October contracts. USDA will release the May Agricultural Prices report Monday afternoon. This report will provide most of the prices used in calculating income over feed for the Dairy Margin Coverage program.

CHEESE:

Cheese futures traded overnight in the July and August contracts with July showing most of the activity. The block cheese price is expected to remain choppy. Cheese is readily available to the market with buyers not aggressively picking up supplies to build inventory.

BUTTER:

Butter and nonfat dry milk futures were traded overnight. Contracts were higher as traders seem to think seasonal buying may surface. Nonfat dry milk showed significantly higher prices in the July through December contracts. The upside price potential is uncertain.

Friday Closing Dairy Market Update - Class IV Futures Post a Strong Close for the Week

GENERAL OVERVIEW:

Milk futures closed higher with numerous contracts limit up. The strength in the butter price was a surprise and fueled the buying interest in Class IV futures.

MILK:

Class III milk futures bounced slightly after making new contract lows earlier in the week. Class IV futures posted strong gains during the second half of the week, fueled by the increase in the butter price. This does not mean that this is a change in trend. Higher spot prices will likely increase selling interest to take advantage of the higher prices. Spot milk supplies are readily available, but demand from plants that have manufacturing capacity has provided support for prices, with some spot milk purchased at a premium to class.

AVERAGE CLASS III PRICES:

3 Month:	$16.08
6 Month:	$16.64
9 Month:	$16.93
12 Month:	$17.00

CHEESE:

For the week, blocks declined 3.00 cents with 48 loads traded. The weekly average price is $1.4210. Barrels increased 2.00 cents with 2 loads traded. The weekly average price is $1.4710. Dry whey increased 0.50 cent with 3 loads traded. The weekly average price is $68.10. This did not provide traders with much to hang their hats on for market direction.

BUTTER:

For the week, butter increased 9.50 cents with 68 loads traded. The weekly average price is $1.5470. Grade A nonfat dry milk decreased 4.25 cents with 36 loads traded. The weekly average price is $1.5935. The butter price increased by 12.50 cents during the second half of the week, providing some hope that the low has been reached and greater buying interest may be surfacing as we move toward the second half of the year.

OUTSIDE MARKETS SUMMARY:

July corn closed down 2.00 cents per bushel at $4.1275, November soybeans closed down 0.75 cent at $11.5625, and July soybean meal closed down $1.20 per ton at $307.00. September Chicago wheat closed down 11.75 cents at $5.8975. August live cattle closed down $1.40 at $245.83. August crude oil is down $1.89 per barrel at $70.03. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 45 points at 51,876, with the NASDAQ down 61 points at 25,298.

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.