MILK
Class IV futures were steady to higher following the lead of butter, but gains were held back by the weakness of nonfat dry milk. Class III futures mixed with the loss of barrels more than offset by the gain of dry whey. The Global Dairy Trade auction took place today with the trade-weighted average increasing 2.7%. This is the first gain in 7 consecutive sessions of lower weighted average indexes. There were 177 bidders at the auction with 37,729 metric tons (mt)sold. Anhydrous milk fat price increased 2.7% from the previous auction at $4,561 per mt or $2.07 per pound. Butter increased 1.1% to $4,588 per mt or $2.08 per pound. Buttermilk powder declined 6.5% to $2,215 per mt or $1 per pound. Cheddar cheese price declined 0.6% to $4,102 per mt or $1.86 per pound. Skim milk powder declined 1.6% to $2,286 per mt or $1.04 per pound. Whole milk powder gained 5.3% to $2,702 per mt or $1.23 per pound. Corn crop conditions declined 3% in the good/excellent category last week and are now 1% below a year ago. Soybean crop condition declined 5% in the good/excellent category and 4% below last year.
AVERAGE CLASS III PRICES
| 3 Month: | $18.68 |
| 6 Month: | $18.57 |
| 9 Month: | $18.54 |
| 12 Month: | $18.56 |
CHEESE
American cheese production in July totaled 475 million pounds which was 0.2% above July 2022, according to the Dairy Products report released today. Italian-type cheese production totaled 482 million pounds, down 1.5% from July 2022. Total cheese production was 1.16 billion pounds which was 0.7% below a year ago. Dry whey output was 87.2 million pounds, up 3.4%. Whey protein concentrate totaled 40.3 million pounds, up 10.6% from a year earlier.
BUTTER
Butter output in July reached 157 million pounds which was 3.5% above July 2022. Nonfat dry milk production totaled 135 million pounds, down 18.6% from July 2022. Skim milk powder output totaled 62.6 million pounds, up 2.6%. Regular ice cream production totaled 62 million pounds, up 1.5% from a year ago.
OUTSIDE MARKETS SUMMARY
December corn closed up 4.50 cents per bushel at $4.8600, November soybeans closed down 4.25 cents at $13.6500 and December soybean meal closed down $2 per ton at $397.60. December Chicago wheat closed up 3.75 cents at $5.9925. October live cattle closed down $0.20 at $179.95. October crude oil is up $1.12 per barrel at $86.67. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 196 points at 34,642 with the NASDAQ down 11 points at 14,021.
