Opening Calls:
| Class III Milk Futures: | Mixed |
| Class IV Milk Futures: | 4 to 10 higher |
| Butter Futures: | 2 to 4 Higher |
Outside Market Opening Calls:
| Corn Futures: | 5 to 8 Lower |
| Soybean Futures: | 15 to 20 Lower |
| Soybean Meal Futures: | $4 to $7 Lower |
| Wheat Futures: | 8 to 12 Lower |
Milk:
There will be plenty of milk remaining available to the market. Dairy cattle slaughter in January indicates the continued desire to keep barns full. The large increase in milk futures Thursday improves the price outlook. September and October Class III futures touched $18.00 Thursday but could not hold that price into the close. Nevertheless, it will not take much to reach and exceed that price. There are numerous milk plants that are running at capacity now and spring flush has not even begun. Some plants are turning down loads of milk that are being offered as a steep discount. It was interesting that milk futures did not follow through to the upside last night with trade confined to the April contract. Some wide bids and offers were placed with interest in closing the distance.
Cheese:
The strong increase of cheese Thursday may bring more buyers into the market as they may want to purchase before price moves much higher. However, that will move it higher as they will be aggressive causing sellers to hold back. The reality is that there is a lot of cheese available, so the price jump Thursday or a higher trend may not be sustainable.
Butter:
Butter is holding on to the gains of the previous few weeks, potentially indicating solid support has been established. High butter supplies will keep demand satisfied. There has been increasing butter production for the export market as international buyers are taking advantage of the lower U.S. price. Price may settle into a higher trading range.
