MILK
Class III milk futures closed near or slightly lower than last week Friday. Contracts had made a run higher as block cheese prices strengthened during the week, but that came to a halt today with the decline of blocks. The market may have moved to the place where buyers do not need to be aggressive to purchase more product through the end of the year. Class IV futures did not fare much better during the week. Volatility was less but most contracts close near or slightly lower than a week ago even though butter was much stronger than cheese. Time has basically run out for shipping product to retail outlets in time for Christmas or the holiday period. Milk production has been steady to slowly improving across the country depending on the area. Milk production for November is expected to exceed the level of a year ago due to strong production per cow and increased cow numbers.
AVERAGE CLASS III PRICES
| 3 Month: | $19.60 |
| 6 Month: | $19.59 |
| 9 Month: | $19.78 |
| 12 Month: | $19.95 |
CHEESE
Block cheese price took a dump with aggressive sellers unable to find buyer interest. This may be a sign of what could take place the rest of the year as buyers may only be interested at lower prices. Demand has been good but there have been some reports from manufacturers that orders have slowed. That is understandable and usual for this time of year. There is no shortage of cheese with limited desire to purchase for aging programs due to the potential for prices to weaken further. For the week, blocks fell 11.75 cents with only four loads traded. The decline of 11.50 cents today provided most of the weakness. Barrels fell 21 cents this week with seven loads traded. Dry whey gained 2 cents with four loads traded.
BUTTER
Price was able to regain what it lost early in the week and closed 4.25 cents higher with 23 loads traded. There continues to be solid demand for butter even though most of it has been shipped to retail and food service venues leaving regular demand and the desire of buyers to increase ownership ahead of next year. Many in the industry believe that price will weaken but the weakness may be limited unless inventory can rebuild. Grade A nonfat dry milk declined 1.50 cents for the week with 14 loads traded.
OUTSIDE MARKETS SUMMARY
March corn declined 0.50 cents closing at $6.53. January soybeans gained 6.50 cents closing at $14.80 with January soybean meal up $7.70 per ton closing at $463.00. March wheat declined 3.75 cents ending at $7.5350. December live cattle gained $1.00 closing at $155.05. January crude oil declined $1.82 closing at $74.29 per barrel. The Dow declined 282 points ending at 32,920 with the Nasdaq down 105 closing at 10,705.
