MILK
The slight increase of barrel cheese price Wednesday only garnered a slight increase in some Class III contracts. That was likely due to some short-covering, which took place just in case the market makes a further price retracement. Traders will view any price increase as a selling opportunity unless proven otherwise. It is moving toward the time of year during which there will be greater draws for milk as schools will begin session in some states soon. Milk will be moving from areas that have abundant milk to those areas that are deficit. Cheese plants continue to deal with heavy milk supplies, but that will soon decrease as demand from bottling increases. There still is some question as to just how much in-person schooling will be done. Dairy Market News reports that New York City along with other locations in the Eastern regions of the country are offering free breakfasts and lunches to students attending school in person. The July Federal Order class prices were announced Wednesday. Class II is $16.83, up $0.17 from June and up $3.04 from June 2020. Class III price is $16.49, down $0.72 from June and down $8.05 from a year ago. The Class IV price is $16.00, down $0.35 from June and up $2.24 from a year ago.
AVERAGE CLASS III PRICES
| 3 Month: | $16.20 |
| 6 Month: | $16.71 |
| 9 Month: | $16.87 |
| 12 Month: | $16.98 |
CHEESE
American cheese production totaled 454 million pounds in June. This was 5.1% above a year ago. Italian-type cheese production reached 473 million pounds or 2.6% below June 2020. Swiss cheese production totaled 26.3 million pounds, an increase of 13% above a year ago. Total cheese production in June reached 1.12 billion pounds, up 0.2% above a year ago. Dry whey production totaled 80.6 million pounds, down 1.3% from a year ago, according to the Dairy Products report released Wednesday.
BUTTER
Butter output in June totaled 161 million pounds, which was 7.8% above June 2020 but was 13.1% below the previous month. Nonfat dry milk production totaled 185 million pounds, up 19.8% from a year ago. Skim milk powder totaled 32.6 million pounds, which was down 46.1% from a year ago. These comparisons are a bit skewed due to the impact of COVID on production last year.
OUTSIDE MARKETS SUMMARY
September corn declined 4.75 cents, closing at $5.4575. August soybeans jumped 11.25 cents, ending at $14.0350, with August soybean meal up $5.30 per ton, closing at $353.10 per ton. September wheat declined 7.25 cents, ending at $7.1725. August live cattle gained $0.80, ending at $124.05. September crude oil fell $2.41, closing at $68.15 per barrel. The Dow fell 324 points, closing at 34,793, while the NASDAQ gained 19 points, closing at 14,781.
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