MILK
There was a lot of information to digest Tuesday with two major reports being released. The January Milk Production report showed production in the top 24 states up 1.8% from January 2020. Milk output in December was reduced 74.0 million pounds, or 0.4%, resulting in production up 2.6% for the month. Production per cow was 15 pounds above January 2020, averaging 2,049 pounds for the month. Cow numbers totaled 8.93 million head and 6,000 head more than December. Milk production in the U.S, increased 1.6%, totaling 19,170 pounds. Production per cow increased 15 pounds. Cow numbers increased 8,000 head from December and are up 85,000 head over January 2020, totaling 9.45 million head. One of the reasons milk production was not as high as anticipated on this report is because USDA made significant revisions higher for numerous months in 2020. This reduced the increase on this report. Nevertheless, there is significant production coming from a lot of cows.
AVERAGE CLASS III PRICES
| 3 Month: | $15.98 |
| 6 Month: | $16.66 |
| 9 Month: | $17.01 |
| 12 Month: | $17.09 |
CHEESE
The action of cheese prices Tuesday left much to be desired. The inability of blocks to hold gains increased the caution of traders over buying into the market. There was some friendliness stemming from the January Cold Storage report in the fact that it showed American cheese inventory declining 952,000 pounds from December and again another unusual event. Inventory remains 3% higher than a year ago. This is positive to the market; however, the daily spot cheese market has not been reflecting this. It indicates there is plenty of cheese available for demand. Swiss cheese increased 1.5 million pounds and is 7% below a year ago. Other cheese stocks increased 1.6 million pounds and is 5% above a year ago. This put total cheese stocks at 1.398 billion pounds and 3% above a year ago.
BUTTER
Butter inventory in January totaled 328.4 million pounds. This was an increase of 54.6 million pounds, or 20%, from December with current inventory 33% above January 2020. This is the highest January inventory since 1993.
OUTSIDE MARKETS SUMMARY
March corn gained 2.75 cents, closing at $5.5375. March soybeans jumped 22.25 cents, closing at $14.06, with March soybean meal up $3.40 per ton, closing at $426.50. March wheat gained 1.75 cents, ending at $6.6575. February live cattle slipped $0.10, closing at $115.62. April crude oil slipped $0.03, closing at $61.67 per barrel. The Dow gained 16 points, ending at 31,537, while the NASDAQ declined 68 points, ending at 13,465.
