OPENING CALLS:
| Class III Milk Futures: | 10 to 30 Higher |
| Class IV Milk Futures: | Mixed |
| Butter Futures: | Mixed |
OUTSIDE MARKET OPENING CALLS:
| Corn Futures: | 14 to 18 Lower |
| Soybean Futures: | 30 to 40 Lower |
| Soybean Meal Futures: | $7 to $10 Lower |
| Wheat Futures: | 15 to $20 Lower |
MILK:
Milk futures took a beating Friday due to the weakness of barrel cheese. However, overnight trading activity points to a reversal of those losses. The World Agricultural Supply and Demand report certainly would not have had a bullish influence as USDA reduced their estimates for milk price this year and next year. The focus may have changed to the current lower level of milk production at the time of year when more milk moves to deficit areas for refilling school pipelines. Or possibly the strength of blocks Friday may be viewed as positive with the trading activity of barrels viewed as a brief setback and not a long-term decline. It will be interesting to see if the strength will hold throughout Monday.
CHEESE:
Time of year would suggest buyers of cheese should become more aggressive, but the concern this year is overall demand. Large inventory may leave buyers less aggressive, requiring less to be moved into aging programs. Milk production continues to decline, but seasonally cooler weather is not too far in the future, which will improve milk production and component values. Less milk will be available for manufacturing in the near term as more milk moves to fill school pipelines.
BUTTER:
Price seems stuck in a range and may remain that way for a while. There is little reason to believe price is going to fall below the trading range as demand seasonally improves heading into fall. Some plants are selling cream rather than churning due to labor shortages and higher cream prices. This may keep supply from building.
