MILK:
Both Class III and Class IV futures took a large hit today as the market corrected from being overdone to the upside. Some concern was evident because of no buyers of cheese showing up during spot trading. The slight weakness of blocks could move buyers to the sidelines as they wait to see how aggressive sellers might become. Available milk supply is mixed but is overall sufficient for market demand. Bottlers are busier with school accounts being filled. Manufactures are running on varied schedules but are generally full of milk. Demand remains strong which is keeping supply moving and prices supported. When looking at dairy futures across the board, one has to wonder why everything is being hit so hard today. Milk, cheese and butter futures are trading below the levels of price settlement today. This would suggest further weakness in overnight trading tonight.
AVERAGE CLASS III PRICES:
| 3 Month: | $21.04 |
| 6 Month: | $20.79 |
| 9 Month: | $20.62 |
| 12 Month: | $20.44 |
CHEESE:
American cheese production in November totaled 438 million pounds. This was 2.7% below November 2020. Italian-type cheese output totaled 483 million lbs, an increase of 6.2% over a year ago. Total cheese output reached 1.12 billion lbs, which was 1.6% above November 2020. Dry whey production was 74.6 million lbs, an increase of 8.7% from a year ago. Lactose production reached 92.4 million lbs, up 8%. Whey protein concentrate totaled 46.2 million lbs, up 17.6%.
BUTTER:
Butter output in November fell 9.6%, totaling 156 million lbs due to tighter cream supply and strong demand from manufacturers of holiday products. Nonfat dry milk production totaled 132 million lbs, down 15% from a year ago. Skim milk powder production fell 24.5%, totaling 49.1 million lbs. Production in December likely followed a similar pattern, which is why price has been so strong through the end of the year and continue to increase.
OUTSIDE MARKETS SUMMARY:
March corn gained 1.50 cents to close at $6.0375. January soybeans fell 7 cents to close at $13.7725, with January soybean meal down $3.70 per ton, closing at $420.40. March wheat fell 14.75 cents to end at $7.46. February live cattle gained $0.10, closing at $137.25. February crude oil was up $1.61 to close at $79.46 per barrel. The Dow was down 171 points, while the NASDAQ slipped 19 points.
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