MILK
Class III milk futures were higher again today in response to the increase of cheese prices. Class IV futures were lower in response to the weakness of butter price. April Class III futures moved within 10 cents of reaching $20.00 today, a place where it has not been since December 7, 2022. The market has turned quickly even though there has not been a significant change of fundamentals. The outlook for milk prices has improved immensely over the past 2 1/2 weeks for nearby months primarily. A better outlook for milk prices will ensure continued strong milk output. USDA released the February Livestock Slaughter report today. The report contains the number of dairy cattle slaughtered during the month. Slaughter totaled 266,500 head with was identical to the number slaughtered in February 2022. This was 31,400 head less than in January. Some of the decline was understandable as February had three fewer days than January. However, it was a substantial decline even taking that into consideration which supports the increase of 12,000 cows in February according to the milk production report.
AVERAGE CLASS III PRICES
| 3 Month: | $18.94 |
| 6 Month: | $18.91 |
| 9 Month: | $19.08 |
| 12 Month: | $19.06 |
CHEESE
USDA released the February Cold Storage report today which showed overall cheese inventory down from January and lower than a year ago. American cheese inventory declined 6.4 million pounds totaling 816.9 million pounds for the month. This is 2% below a year ago. Swiss cheese inventory increased 534,000 pounds to 23,9 million pounds, down 5% from a year ago. Other cheese inventory increased 5.7 million pounds totaling 605.5 million pounds, down 1% from a year ago. Total cheese inventory reached 1.446 billion pounds, down 1% from February 2022. It is unusual to see cheese inventory decrease during the month of February.
BUTTER
Price has shown more weakness than anticipated this week. It is not expected to fall apart but indicates buyers are not concerned about supply. February inventory increased 30.7 million pounds from January moving total stocks to 295,000 pounds. This is 12% higher than they were for February 2022 and the highest inventory since July 2022.
OUTSIDE MARKETS SUMMARY
May corn declined 1.75 cents ending at $6.3175. May soybeans fell 29 cents ending at $14.1950 with May soybean meal down $13.30 closing at $438.30 per ton. May wheat slipped 1.50 cents closing at $6.62. April live cattle declined $0.15 ending at $162.15. May crude oil declined $0.94 closing at $69.96 per barrel. The Dow gained 75 points closing at 32,105 while the Nasdaq gained 117 points closing at 11,787.
