MILK
Cheese prices did not decrease very much but traders did not like the decline. Class III milk futures posted double-digit losses through the September contract. The anticipation is for lower prices and little reason for buyers to become aggressive. The spread between Class III and Class IV prices is increasing again with Class IV futures about $2.00 higher than Class III. Milk production is expected to improve as time moves forward providing sufficient milk for bottling and manufacturing needs. Some plants would like to have more milk available but are unwilling to purchase it on the spot market and pay a premium. FSA released the average soybean meal price for September at $346.34 per ton. This is $2.94 per ton higher than August. This completes the prices used to determine the income over feed price for the Dairy Margin Coverage program. The income over feed price was $15.57. This is the highest income over feed price since the program began.
AVERAGE CLASS III PRICES
| 3 Month: | $19.63 |
| 6 Month: | $19.49 |
| 9 Month: | $19.40 |
| 12 Month: | $19.40 |
CHEESE
The September Dairy Products report showed American cheese production totaled 456 million pounds, down 3.7% from September 2023 and 4.4% below August. It stands to reason that inventory is below a year ago as the interest in producing American cheese has declined. Italian-type cheese production totaled 487 million pounds, up 1.5% from a year ago. Total cheese output reached 1.16 billion pounds slightly above a year ago. Dry whey output totaled 68.0 million pounds, down 13.8% from September 2023. Lactose output totaled 94.0 million pounds, down 1.3%. Whey protein concentrate production was down 9.8% at 36.7 million pounds.
BUTTER
Butter production in September totaled 159 million pounds and was 11.3% above September 2023. Nonfat dry milk output reached 114 million pounds, up 14.3%. Skim milk powder production totaled 53.2 million pounds, down 21.4%. Regular ice cream production totaled 59.3 million gallons, down 2.8% from a year ago.
OUTSIDE MARKETS SUMMARY
December corn closed up 2.00 cents per bushel at $4.1650, January soybeans closed up 3.50 cents at $9.9725 and December soybean meal closed up $4.30 per ton at $299.60. December Chicago wheat closed up 0.75 cent at $5.6875. December live cattle closed down $0.85 at $185.08. December crude oil is up $2.20 per barrel at $71.69. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 258 points at 41,795 with the NASDAQ down 60 points at 18,180.
