OUTSIDE MARKETS SUMMARY:
| CORN: | 4 Lower |
| SOYBEANS: | 3 1/4 Lower |
| SOYBEAN MEAL: | $0.80 Lower |
| LIVE CATTLE: | $0.35 Higher |
| DOW JONES: | 127 Points Higher |
| NASDAQ: | 114 Points Higher |
| CRUDE OIL: | $1.12 Higher |
MIDDAY MARKET UPDATE:
Class III milk futures continue to show additional market weakness, with November contracts leading the complex lower at midday. All nearby contracts are posting double-digit losses, although the November contract is most affected, trading 58 cents per cwt lower at $21.26 per cwt. This first week of October has been challenging at best for the milk complex with November futures falling $2.08 per cwt since Monday. The hope that renewed buyer support will quickly move back into dairy product markets over the next few weeks continues to limit further aggressive selling. Given the current supply of milk and dairy products available, it is likely that prices could remain uneven in a moderate range soon.
The monthly dairy product production report will be released this afternoon. Although this report lags in its overall data and has limited impact on short-term prices, the value of the report will be to measure end of summer production levels with year ago levels. This could help bring some much-needed clarity for the rest of the year and set the tone for price movements in the next couple of weeks for both milk and dairy products.
Cash butter prices increased 0.75 cent per pound to $2.6875, a pound in active trade with a total of 23 loads trading Friday. This pushes the weekly butter trade to 59 loads, which is considered strong for the week and is helping to bring additional movement back into the market. Cheese prices were lower with aggressive 16.5 cent losses redeveloping in the barrel markets while block cheese fell an additional 6 cents per pound. This pushes both block and barrel prices below $2 per pound and is adding even more concern for further market weakness in the coming days.
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