MILK
Class III Milk futures settled 2-12 cents lower. Class IV Futures were mixed today, settling anywhere from 11 cents lower to 6 cents higher, with the front months showing the most gains. On the Dairy Products report, nonfat dry milk, human, was down 20.4% from January 2023 at 139 million pounds. However, skim milk powder was up 27.7% at 56.9 million pounds. Condensed milk was down 2.7% from last year but gained 6.5% from December.
In the frozen sector, we saw year-over-year reductions in nearly every product. Most notable were sherbet down 11.3%, low-fat ice cream down 8.6% and regular hard ice cream down 6.3% at 49,617,000 gallons.
AVERAGE CLASS III PRICES
| 3 Month: | $16.78 |
| 6 Month: | $17.39 |
| 9 Month: | $17.80 |
| 12 Month: | $17.87 |
CHEESE
Cheese futures settled slightly lower, trading 0.2 to 1.1 cents lower. An active but bearish day in the cash market pushed prices lower this afternoon. The January Products Report was neutral to bullish for the cheese market today. Total cheese output was 1.19 billion pounds, 1.2% below January 2023 and 0.5% below December 2023. Italian-type cheese production totaled 503 million pounds, 0.7% higher than 2023 but 1.1% below last month. American-type cheese production totaled 471 million pounds, 5.5% below last year and 1.9% below last month.
BUTTER
Butter futures were 1-2.975 cents higher today, led by the cash market, which was 5.75 cents higher today. The Dairy Products report was 214 million pounds, 6.4% above last year and 10.6% above December. This reminds us that although demand has been helpful, we still need to keep a close eye on the excess supply.
OUTSIDE MARKETS SUMMARY
May corn closed 5.25 cents per bushel higher at $4.30, May soybeans closed 3.75 cents per bushel higher at $11.55 and May soybean meal closed $1.20 per ton higher at $333.5. May Chicago wheat closed 6.25 cents higher at $5.64. April live cattle closed $1.775 lower at $186.675. April crude oil is $1.21 per barrel lower at $78.76. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 97 points at 38,989 with the NASDAQ down 67 points at 16,207.
