MILK:
Class III milk futures were 6 to 42 cents higher. Spot cheese price saw little change in barrels, though blocks stayed where they were. Class IV futures were 1 cent to 12 cents higher. The Dairy Products report had yogurt totaling 403 million pounds produced for August, the highest recorded this year. This is a decline of 1.9% from last year, but up 6.8% from the previous month.
AVERAGE CLASS III PRICES:
| 3 Month: | $21.76 |
| 6 Month: | $21.15 |
| 9 Month: | $20.91 |
| 12 Month: | $20.80 |
CHEESE:
Spot cheese prices for blocks were unchanged at $2.000 with no loads traded. Barrels closed at $2.2275, up 1.75 cents, with 2 loads traded. The Dairy Products report revealed a slight increase in cheese production from a year ago at 1.15 billion pounds of total cheese output. Month to month, cheese output declined 0.2%. Italian cheese types produced 488 million pounds. This is 1.7% higher than a year ago, and 0.3% lower than the previous month. Mozzarella produced 386 million pounds, increasing 3.1% from last year, but declining 1% from July 2022. American cheese production declined 2.1% from the previous year to total 453 million pounds. This is also 2.9% lower than the previous month.
BUTTER:
Spot butter increased 3.25 cents to close at $3.2100 with 8 loads traded. The Dairy Products report had shown production of butter totaling 144 million pounds, declining 2% from a year ago, and declining 5% from the previous month. Since March of this year, butter production has kept a steady decline. Nonfat dry milk totaled 134 million pounds, increasing 10.1% from the previous year. This is the lowest nonfat dry milk has totaled all year. Skim milk powder declined 22.7% to 56 million pounds, the highest total yet this year. Dry whey declined 4.3% to 78.8 million pounds.
OUTSIDE MARKETS SUMMARY:
December corn futures increased 2.25 cents to settle at $6.8300 per bushel. November soybeans were up 9.50 cents to $13.8350 per bushel. October soybean meal was down $2.60 to settle at $403 per ton. December wheat futures declined 9 cents to $9.03 per bushel. October live cattle fell 0.125 cents to $144.200. November crude oil increased $2.69 to close at $86.32 per barrel. The DOW gained 825 points to 30,316, while NASDAQ increased 360 points to 11,176.
