Block cheese price fell 7.75 cents, closing at $1.6525 with 1 load traded. Barrel cheese price fell 5 cents, closing at $1.39 with 18 loads traded. Barrels initially moved to $1.38 before coming back to close a penny off the low. However, this time that has not had any real impact on the market. There were 3 unfilled bids for barrels and 3 uncovered offers for blocks remaining at the close. Butter followed the pattern that has been prevalent since the middle of last year, dropping back after two days of price gain. Price dropped 5.25 cents, ending at $1.4025 with 3 loads traded. Grade A nonfat dry milk price declined 1.75 cents, ending at $1.1825 with 6 loads traded. Dry whey price gained 0.50 cent, closing at 54 cents with 1 load traded. Class III futures are 63 cents lower to 6 cents higher. February continues to take the brunt of selling as it remains close to underlying cash. Futures are lower through July before futures show gains. Class IV futures are 19 cents lower. Butter futures are 3.00 cents lower to 1.50 cents higher. Dry whey futures are unchanged to 1.17 cents higher. USDA will release the December Livestock Slaughter report Thursday afternoon.
