MILK:
Dairy Foods magazine reports the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a final rule to update the definition of the nutrient content claim "healthy". To qualify as "healthy" under the updated definition, food products must contain a certain amount of food from at least one of the food groups or subgroups outlined by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, including fruits, vegetables, protein foods, dairy and grains. Foods that qualify for the "healthy" claim must also meet certain limits on saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars. Roberta Wagner, senior vice president of regulatory and scientific affairs at the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), released the following statement in response to the FDA's final rule defining "healthy": "With this rule, the FDA missed an important opportunity to help shoppers at all income levels choose healthier food options for their families. Instead, the rule is so narrow that few foods, including many nutrient-dense dairy products, will be able to bear the claim. FDA notes that 79% of Americans are not eating enough dairy or getting dairy's 13 essential nutrients, and yet this new rule puts nutritious dairy further out of reach for Americans of all backgrounds and income levels. We recommend FDA rethink their approach to ensure a wide variety of nutrient-dense foods accessible to Americans from all backgrounds can bear the claim. We urge the FDA to re-open this rule for comment with the intent of creating practical policy that benefits all people and families." This needed to be passed on to make everyone aware of some of the subtle policies that can take place that can have a significant impact over time.
AVERAGE CLASS III PRICES:
| 3 Month: | $19.39 |
| 6 Month: | $19.45 |
| 9 Month: | $19.30 |
| 12 Month: | $19.17 |
CHEESE:
Spot cheese prices remained steady providing no direction to the market. This pattern may continue through the rest of the year. More milk is available for processing, keeping a sufficient supply of fresh cheese available for demand. The positive aspect is that the recent price increase is being maintained. Buyers and sellers seem comfortable at the current price level.
BUTTER:
The low has been established for butter supported by the substantial decline in inventory in November. The butter supply may close the year closely aligned with what it was at the close of 2023. The cream supply has been heavy but has been readily absorbed in the market. The price is expected to have a limited downside.
OUTSIDE MARKETS SUMMARY:
March corn closed up 5.25 cents per bushel at $4.5375, March soybeans closed up 16.00 cents at $9.9725 and March soybean meal closed up $13.30 per ton at $314.90. March Chicago wheat closed up 6.25 cents at $5.4100. February live cattle closed up $2.73 at $190.10. February crude oil is down $0.45 per barrel at $69.65. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 29 points at 43,326 with the NASDAQ down 11 points at 20,020.
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