MILK
Class III futures are slowly trying to creep back up to $20. Underlying cash prices have not seen much weakness with any weakness short-lived. Demand from bottlers and cheese plants is steady, utilizing the heavier volumes of milk that are coming in. There have not been any reports of discarded milk yet. Hopefully, there will not be any. However, there are longer waits at some manufacturing plants, which has slowed some milk movement. There is concern over the apparent difficulty of finding sufficient milk jugs due to the difficulty sourcing resin to manufacture those jugs. Sourcing the resin is becoming a greater concern for many businesses relying on plastics. There may be a shortage of net wrap, plastic wrap and plastic twine for baling. This would also extend over into silage bags as well. It may not necessarily be due to a shortage of resin but getting it delivered to the proper manufacturing facilities due to shipping issues. This will not have an impact on milk production unless prices for many products used, in addition to already high feed prices, will be enough to reduce income below cost of production and increase the rate of culling. Dairy cattle are bringing good prices at cattle auctions with high demand. This does not indicate any interest in reducing cattle yet.
AVERAGE CLASS III PRICES
| 3 Month: | $18.87 |
| 6 Month: | $19.29 |
| 9 Month: | $19.16 |
| 12 Month: | $18.88 |
CHEESE
Cheese plants indicate there is sufficient milk supplies for manufacturing needs. Cheese demand is strong, but recently, buyers have been a bit hesitant to go overboard with purchases. The void in the pipeline of the foodservice industry may have been filled and will now settle down to maintaining supply. Block cheese price has settled in a sideways pattern.
BUTTER
The weekly cold storage report shows butter inventory in selected warehouses had increased so far this month. That would indicate that supply has finally caught up with demand from the foodservice industry. Churning remains active as there is sufficient supply for demand. However, supply is tightening, and price is increasing as more is being utilized in the production of ice cream.
OUTSIDE MARKETS SUMMARY
May corn jumped 15.75 cents, closing at $7.02. May soybeans fell 15.25 cents, ending at $15.4250, with May soybean meal up $1.20 per ton, closing at $422.60. May wheat gained 12.25 cents, ending at $7.3750. April live cattle gains $0.52, closing at $119.47. June crude oil gained $1.15, closing at $65.01 per barrel. The Dow gained 240 points, closing at 34,060, while the NASDAQ gained 32 points, ending at 14,083.
