Wednesday Closing Dairy Market Update - November Class III Milk Price Is $19.95

MILK:

Nearby Class III milk futures have made nice price increases over the past two days and have put some Class III contracts over $19.00 where they have not been since November 20. Traders remain cautious as price increases have been notorious for not lasting very long. The November Federal Order class prices were released showing Class II and IV prices higher and Class III lower. The Class II price is $21.52, up $0.51 from October and up $0.31 from November 2023. The Class III price is $19.95, down $2.90 from October, but $2.80 higher than a year ago. The Class IV price is $21.12, up $0.22 from October and $0.25 above November 2023.

AVERAGE CLASS III PRICES:

3 Month:	$19.03
6 Month:	$18.96
9 Month:	$18.88
12 Month:	$18.82

CHEESE:

The sellers of cheese have stepped back briefly, letting prices increase. This may be temporary unless demand for fresh cheese has improved sufficiently to generate greater competition and aggressive buying interest. American cheese production in October totaled 486 million pounds or 0.2% below a year ago. American cheese production has been lower than a year ago for the past few months but has not tightened the market to create a tighter supply. Italian-type cheese production totaled 512 million pounds and was 0.5% above October 2023. Total cheese production reached 1.23 billion pounds, up 1.0% above October 2023. Dry whey production totaled 66.3 million pounds, down 11.9% from a year ago, and part of the reason for the high whey price. Lactose production totaled 91.7 million pounds, up 1.8% and whey protein concentrate production totaled 40.6 million pounds, up 2.3%.

BUTTER:

October butter production totaled 167 million pounds, up 3.1% above October 2023. Nonfat dry milk output totaled 125 million pounds, down 2.7% with skim milk production down 24.1% at 41.0 million pounds. Regular hard ice cream production was 40.6 million gallons, up 11.8% from a year ago.

OUTSIDE MARKETS SUMMARY:

March corn closed down 2.25 cents per bushel at $4.3000, January soybeans closed down 8.00 cents at $9.8375 and January soybean meal closed up $1.50 per ton at $291.90. March Chicago wheat closed up 0.75 cent at $5.4825. February live cattle closed down $0.75 at $188.33. January crude oil is down $1.27 per barrel at $68.67. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 309 points at 45,014 with the NASDAQ up 254 points at 19,735.