MILK
Class III milk futures were lower early in the day but found support from the increase of barrel cheese and the comeback of block cheese during spot trading. Overall, futures are sideways to lower. There are reports that spot milk loads are unavailable to a few plants this week in the Central region. This is unusual for this time of year as it is a holiday week. This compares to a year ago when spot prices were as much as $10.00 below class. Increased temperatures affecting cow comfort have been noted in many areas. Some areas have also had difficulty harvesting forage due to extremely wet weather.
USDA announced the June Federal Order prices today. The Class II price was $21.60, up $0.10 from May and up $2.77 from a year ago. The Class III price was $19.87, up $1.32 from May and $4.96 above the same month last year. The Class IV price was $21.08, an increase of $0.58 from May and $2.82 higher than a year ago.
AVERAGE CLASS III PRICES
| 3 Month: | $19.93 |
| 6 Month: | $19.88 |
| 9 Month: | $19.47 |
| 12 Month: | $19.25 |
CHEESE
American cheese production in May totaled 488 million pounds, 5.7% below May 2023. This is the main reason cheese inventory was slightly below a year ago on the May cold storage report. Italian-type cheese production totaled 506 million pounds, up 4.4% from May 2023. Total cheese output reached 1.21 billion pounds, up 0.7% from May 2023. Dry whey production totaled 76.6 million pounds, down 6.3% from a year ago. Whey protein concentrate output totaled 42.5 million pounds, down 3.2% from May 2023.
BUTTER
Butter production in May totaled 204 million pounds, up 4.0% from a year ago. Nonfat dry milk output totaled 171 million pounds, down 17.2%. Skim milk powder production declined 10.1% totaling 41.9% below a year ago. Regular ice cream output increased by 2.3% totaling 65.0 million gallons.
OUTSIDE MARKETS SUMMARY
December corn closed down 1.75 cents per bushel at $4.1950, November soybeans closed up 8.50 cents at $11.2150 and December soybean meal closed up $.90 per ton at $329.20. September Chicago wheat closed down 7.00 cents at $5.7400. August live cattle closed up $0.83 at $185.93. August crude oil is up $0.82 per barrel at $83.63. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 24 points at 39,308 with the NASDAQ up 160 points at 18,188.
