MILK:
Class III showed volatility this week but closed near the levels of the end of last week. Class IV futures closed lower as further pressure was put on the spot butter price. Overall demand for dairy was steady with sufficient supply readily available for demand. There is no concern from buyers about obtaining products to fill orders. September fluid milk sales continued to follow the pattern of lower consumption with a decline of 1.6% compared to September 2023. Whole milk sales declined by 1.2%: flavored whole milk sales gained 2.1%; reduced-fat milk sales declined by 6.4%; low-fat milk declined by 4.1%; fat-free skim sales declined by 10.5%; flavored fat-reduced sales declined by 4.1% with other fluid milk product sales increasing 31.0%. Organic whole milk sales increased by 15.5%; organic reduced fat fell by 19.7%; organic reduced fat milk increased by 4.2%; organic low fat increased by 0.3%; organic fat-free skim milk sales decreased by 0.3%; organic flavored fat-reduced sales decreased by 0.3% while sales of other organic milk products increased by 63.7%.
AVERAGE CLASS III PRICES:
| 3 Month: | $18.89 |
| 6 Month: | $18.84 |
| 9 Month: | $18.79 |
| 12 Month: | $18.78 |
CHEESE:
For the week, blocks declined by 0.25 cent with one load traded. Barrels declined 4.50 cents with 10 loads traded. Dry whey increased by 5 cents with three loads traded. There will be no spot trading on Friday and no futures trading either. Cheese prices tried to find support but fell back as buyers were unaggressive. Blocks made a new low after reaching the high in September and moved to the lowest price since April 18. Barrels follow suit with a new low reaching the same level as blocks.
BUTTER:
For the week, butter declined by 4.75 cents with 10 loads traded. Grade A nonfat dry milk gained 2.75 cents with 14 loads traded. The price set new lows on Monday and Tuesday and bounced to close the holiday-shortened trading week. Demand will need to improve significantly, or the price will slip further moving through December.
OUTSIDE MARKETS SUMMARY:
March corn closed steady at $4.2800, January soybeans closed up 5.25 cents at $9.8875 and January soybean meal closed up $4.00 per ton at $295.40. March Chicago wheat closed down 9.50 cents at $5.4850. February live cattle closed up $0.90 at $188.60. January crude oil is down $0.05 per barrel at $68.72. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 138 points at 44,722 with the NASDAQ down 115 points at 19,060.
