MILK
Class III milk futures turned quickly once it set a bottom and has not looked back. Cheese buyers have been aggressive as some concern has been raised over supply moving through the year. Cheese inventory has not been increasing as was anticipated. Butter inventory has been growing but not by leaps and bounds and higher inventory is not a concern due to the expected demand increase. Milk production continues to increase moving through the spring flush period and has not resulted in an overabundance of milk. The outlook for better milk prices may increase the desire for farms to add cows if they are available. Spot milk prices are $1.00 to $3.00 below class and are expected to decrease over the next month as milk production tightens with summer weather.
AVERAGE CLASS III PRICES
| 3 Month: | $19.09 |
| 6 Month: | $19.20 |
| 9 Month: | $18.97 |
| 12 Month: | $18.75 |
CHEESE
American cheese production totaled 491 million pounds in March, a decrease of 2.9% from March 2023. Italian-type cheese output totaled 518 million pounds, up 4.4% from a year ago. Total cheese output was 1.23 billion pounds, an increase of 0.1% above March 2023. Dry whey output reached 79.9 million pounds, up 3.4% from a year ago. Whey protein concentrate totaled 44.3 million pounds, up 2.6% with lactose at 98.7 million pounds, up slightly from a year ago.
BUTTER
Butter production was 1.4% higher than in March 2023 at 209 million pounds. Nonfat dry milk totaled 184 million pounds, down 7.9%. Skim milk production fell 41.7% totaling 28.3 million pounds. Regular hard ice cream totaled 66.1 million gallons, an increase of 1.4%.
OUTSIDE MARKETS SUMMARY
July corn closed up 8.75 cents per bushel at $4.6900, July soybeans closed up 33.75 cents at $12.4875 and July soybean meal closed up $15.40 per ton at $387.60. July Chicago wheat closed up 26.25 cents at $6.4875. June live cattle closed up $0.30 at $176.98. June crude oil is up $0.60 per barrel at $78.71. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 177 points at 38,852 with the NASDAQ is up 193 points at 16,349.
