MILK
Closer Class III milk futures settle lower for the week while later contracts closed higher. Futures closed slightly lower in Class III contracts through August despite slightly stronger underlying spot prices. The market needs to prove itself before traders might get more bullish on prices. The March Milk Production report showed milk production up 0.5% over the previous year. There were 11 of the top 24 states which showed decreases in production. Florida showed the largest decline of 5.5% followed by New Mexico at 4.4%. The rest of the states showed declines of less than 2.7%. California was down 2.0% in production from the previous year. The largest increase was seen in South Dakota with a gain of 7.0%. It was followed by Kansas with a gain of 4.8%, Texas with a gain of 4.7%, and Iowa up 4.1%. The rest of the states showed gains of 3.1% or less. Wisconsin gained 0.4%.
AVERAGE CLASS III PRICES
| 3 Month: | $17.99 |
| 6 Month: | $18.52 |
| 9 Month: | $18.87 |
| 12 Month: | $18.86 |
CHEESE
Spot cheese prices were mixed this week with blocks declining 2.50 cents while barrels increased 4 cents. Dry whey was unchanged for the week. The important aspect of the market was the sheer volume of loads traded. There were 29 loads of blocks, 85 loads of barrels and 35 loads of dry whey. That is a lot of cheese and dry whey changing hands over the course of a week. Over the past two weeks, there have been 155 loads of barrels traded and 82 loads of dry whey. Sellers are moving a lot of production and buyers have been able to purchase a lot of supply without having to chase the market.
BUTTER
For the week, butter increased 7.50 cents with 16 loads traded. Grade A nonfat dry milk increased 3.50 cents with seven loads traded. Butter trade is about like watching paint dry, with spot price remaining in a somewhat narrow price range for quite some time. Buyers and sellers are comfortable with the current price.
OUTSIDE MARKETS SUMMARY
May corn declined 0.50 cent closing at $6.6325. May soybeans declined 14 cents closing at $14.8350 with May soybean meal down $5.60 per ton closing at $445.70. May wheat declined 6 cents closing at $6.6175. April live cattle declined $0.12 ending at $173.97. June crude oil gained $0.50 closing at $77.87 per barrel. The Dow gained 23 points ending at 33,809 while the Nasdaq gained 13 points closing at 12,072.
