OPENING CALLS:
| Class III Milk Futures: | Steady to 5 Higher |
| Class IV Milk Futures: | 5 to 10 Higher |
| Butter Futures: | Mixed |
OUTSIDE MARKET OPENING CALLS:
| Corn Futures: | 4 to 7 Lower |
| Soybean Futures: | Steady to 3 Lower |
| Soybean Meal Futures: | Mixed |
| Wheat Futures: | Mixed |
MILK:
Milk futures have made a rebound over the past two days, but the strength seemed to be limited as traders did not jump on the bandwagon as they have done in the past. There is caution over the strength and duration of the gains. After all, the inventory report was bearish indicating plenty of supply for the market. Milk production is holding well with many plants indicating they are running as full as they want to be. Bottling demand is steady but at lower levels as consumption continues to decline on a year-over-year basis. USDA will release the Agricultural Prices report this afternoon which provides average prices for the month of May used to calculate income over feed for the Dairy Margin Coverage program. There is no payment expected under the program. The Planted Acreage and Quarterly Grain Stocks reports will also be released at 11:00 am Central time this morning.
CHEESE:
The strength of cheese the past two days has been a little surprising due to the bearishness leading up to this week. However, buyers wanted to take advantage of the lower prices to increase their supply. However, not much was traded leaving them paying higher prices anyway. The increase may have been due to immediate orders that needed to be filled. Once those are filled, prices could slip back again.
BUTTER:
Price is challenging the $3.00 level again. That has been met with buyer resistance before and may see that again. Buyers feel downside price risk is minimal but are cautious over upside price potential.
