MILK
There was a divergence in milk futures with Class III contracts higher and Class IV contracts lower. The Class IV contracts were under pressure due to the weakness of butter and nonfat dry milk prices. Class III futures showed some optimism even though cheese prices were mixed. The Global Dairy Trade auction took place on Tuesday with the trade-weighted average increasing 0.4%. There were 174 bidders and a quantity of 22,954 tons sold. The anhydrous milk fat price increased by 4.0% to $6,764 per metric ton or $3.07 per pound. Butter increased by 0.8% to $6,606 per metric ton or $3.00 per pound. Cheddar cheese price jumped 6.2% to $4,217 per metric ton or $1.91 per pound. The lactose price slipped by 0.6% to $793 per metric ton or $0.36 per pound. The mozzarella cheese price decreased by 0.8% to $4,225 per metric ton to $1.92 per pound. Skim milk powder decreased by 1.1% to $2,566 per metric ton or $1.16 per pound. Whole milk powder decreased 1.6% to $3.142 per metric ton or $1.43 per pound. The August Class I price is $21.32, up $0.21 from July and $4.70 higher than August 2023.
AVERAGE CLASS III PRICES
| 3 Month: | $19.98 |
| 6 Month: | $20.01 |
| 9 Month: | $19.53 |
| 12 Month: | $19.23 |
CHEESE
Spot cheese prices continued the pattern of choppiness. Buyers and sellers are comfortable with the current prices. They see little reason to get excited over the supply at present. Milk production is decreasing but manufacturing is steady. The cheese supply is sufficient for the current level of demand.
BUTTER
Butter production is slowing as the cream supply tightens. However, the spot butter price remains in a range. Buyers have yet to step up more aggressively to purchase supply for upcoming demand. They may already have a significant amount of supply already purchased limiting the need to be aggressive anytime soon.
OUTSIDE MARKETS SUMMARY
December corn closed up 3.00 cents per bushel at $4.1175, November soybeans closed down 2.25 cents at $10.4100 and December soybean meal closed up $2.00 per ton at $312.10. September Chicago wheat closed up 8.50 cents at $5.3925. August live cattle closed up $1.60 at $184.28. August crude oil is up $2.09 per barrel at $82.85. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 244 points at 41,198 with the NASDAQ down 512 points at 17,997.
