MILK
It was a very good week for Class III futures with May gaining nearly $1.560 per cwt. Later contracts did not see quite the increase but moved higher. Traders turned more bullish on the market as they anticipate more impact on the milk supply as the year continues. Cheese prices showed a nice gain after spending a few days holding steady.
Milk production is increasing seasonally but continues to remain below a year ago. We will see further evidence of this when USDA releases the March Milk Production report on Monday. The interesting part will be the cow numbers. January cow numbers dropped substantially from the previous month while February showed a rebound in cow numbers. It is anyone's guess as to what took place in March.
AVERAGE CLASS III PRICES
| 3 Month: | $16.22 |
| 6 Month: | $17.07 |
| 9 Month: | $17.44 |
| 12 Month: | $17.45 |
CHEESE
Cheese had an impressive week even though both block and barrel prices remained steady for two days. For the week, blocks gained 14.50 cents with 23 loads traded. Barrels gained 8.75 cents with 23 loads traded. Dry whey gained 3.25 cents with 28 loads traded. It was unusual to see that much activity for dry whey. Buyers might be stepping up to purchase inventory to fill orders later in the year.
BUTTER
For the week, butter price remained unchanged with eight loads traded. Grade A nonfat dry milk declined 3.25 cents with 16 loads traded. Churning remains active meeting demand and then some. excess is being stored for later use. Traders are comfortable with supplies above a year ago as they want to build a cushion to hedge against potentially higher prices later in the year.
OUTSIDE MARKETS SUMMARY
May corn closed up 6.75 cents per bushel at $4.3350, May soybeans closed up 16.25 cents at $11.5050 and July soybean meal closed up $5.80 per ton at $343.20. July Chicago wheat closed up 13.75 cents at $5.6675. June live cattle closed up $0.30 at $175.68. June crude oil is up $0.12 per barrel at $82.22. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 211 points at 37,986 while the NASDAQ was down 319 points at 15,282.
