MILK
Milk futures moved without a lot of fanfare Wednesday. Class III futures were steady to generally lower at the close. However, trading after the market is settled for the day showed milk futures moving higher. This is the reaction to the April Milk Production report. Milk production was down 0.9% in the top 24 states. Production per cow was 1 pound lower, averaging 2,054 pounds. Cow numbers did not increase from March and were 78,000 fewer than a year ago. Milk production for the U.S. declined 1.0% from April 2021. Production per cow was unchanged from a year ago, averaging 2,037 pounds. Cow numbers in the country totaled 9.40 million head, down 98,000 head from a year ago and unchanged from March. South Dakota showed the largest milk production gain with an increase of 16.7% from a year earlier. There were only four other states showing gains for the month. Georgia increased 12.1%, Texas was up 4.7%, Oregon increased 2.7%, with Iowa up 0.9%. New Mexico showed the largest decline of 12.9%, followed by Florida with a decline of 12.1%. The rest of the top 24 states showed declines of 4.1% or less.
AVERAGE CLASS III PRICES
| 3 Month: | $24.65 |
| 6 Month: | $24.14 |
| 9 Month: | $23.48 |
| 12 Month: | $22.71 |
CHEESE
Cheese demand is mixed, depending on varieties as well as location. There is an indication demand has increased recently as summer nears. Manufacturers have been aggressively purchasing spot milk if they have room to process it. The intent is to build inventory for demand later in the year. We will get a clearer picture of this next week when USDA releases the April Cold Storage report.
BUTTER
Cream prices have increased recently, as there has been a greater shift to cream cheese and ice cream manufacturing. However, there remains sufficient supply for butter production. Seasonally, butter production is tending lower with inventory increasing from month to month but not year over year. Butter demand has slowed at the retail level but has held steady for the food service industry.
OUTSIDE MARKETS SUMMARY
July corn fell 19.25 cents, closing at $7.8150. July soybeans fell 15.25 cents, ending at $16.6275, with July soybean meal up $2.20 per ton, ending at $414. July wheat fell 46.75 cents, closing at $12.2075. June live cattle declined $1.50, closing at $131.50. June cured oil declined $2.81, closing at $109.59 per barrel. The Dow plummeted 1,165 points, closing at 31,490, while the NASDAQ fell 566 points, closing at 11,418.
