OPENING CALLS:
| Class III Milk Futures: | 5 to 8 Lower |
| Class IV Milk Futures: | Steady to 5 Lower |
| Butter Futures: | Steady to 1 Lower |
OUTSIDE MARKET OPENING CALLS:
| Corn Futures: | 8 to 10 Lower |
| Soybean Futures: | 4 to 6 Lower |
| Soybean Meal Futures: | $2 to $3 Lower |
| Wheat Futures: | 3 to 6 Lower |
MILK:
Class III milk futures took a beating Thursday with pressure from lower spot prices. The other factor was continued strong milk production during the month of March, according to the Milk Production report. Friday the market will contend with the potential for further weakness of cash prices as well as the negative implications of the Cold Storage report. There is plenty of milk available for both bottling and manufacturing demand. Plants report increasing milk receipts. Most plants are already running at capacity, increasing the anxiety over handling the milk during spring flush. Milk futures are expected to see further pressure Friday.
CHEESE:
Increasing cheese supplies in the face of strong demand does not make one feel warm and fuzzy about prices. The continued increase of American cheese stocks by 14.6 million pounds in March with inventory up 7% over last year, is a bit bearish. Swiss cheese stocks gained 1.0 million pounds being 2 percent below last year. Other cheese was up 14.4 million pounds and 6 percent over last year. This put total cheese up 30.0 million pounds and 7 percent above last year. Spot prices may weaken further Friday.
BUTTER:
Strong demand from the food service industry was very evident on the March Cold Storage report. Inventory only increased 29,000 pounds. This is the positive aspect of the market. The negative aspect is that inventory remains 15% percent higher than a year earlier. The market is expected to remain in a sideway range for a period of time.
