Friday Midday Dairy Market Summary - Butter Shows Further Strength

OUTSIDE MARKETS SUMMARY:

CORN:	28 Lower
SOYBEANS:	8 Lower
SOYBEAN MEAL:	$12.20 Lower
LIVE CATTLE:	$0.30 Lower
DOW JONES:	151 Points Lower
NASDAQ:	67 Points Lower
CRUDE OIL:	$0.60 Lower

MIDDAY MARKET UPDATE:

Block cheese price declined 0.50 cent closing at $1.4050 with three loads traded. There was an unfilled bid and uncovered offer remaining at the close. Barrel cheese price declined 0.75 cent closing at $1.50 with no loads traded. There was an unfilled bid and uncovered offer remaining at the close. The bids remaining after spot trading yesterday gave the impression buyers might be looking more aggressively for loads today, but such was not the case. Dry whey price remained unchanged at 26.50 cents with no loads traded. Buyers were ready to purchase if price would have declined as there were six unfilled bids remaining at the close. Class III futures are mixed with contracts ranging from 9 cents lower to 6 cents higher. Butter price increased 4 cents closing at $2.42 with one load traded. Grade A nonfat dry milk price declined a penny to $1.1325 with one load traded. The recent weakness could indicate price may fall back to the low of mid-April. Class IV futures are mixed with July up 13 cents and March down 9 cents. Butter futures are 1.00–2.47 cents higher. Dry whey futures are unchanged to 0.30 cent higher. USDA will release the May Cold Storage report this afternoon. Butter stocks are expected to be higher than a year ago. Cheese stocks could go either way. So far, they have been holding near the levels of a year ago.