MILK:
Milk prices traded higher through the June 2025 contract months following firm underlying support in the dairy complex, combined with moderate to active price volatility through other ag commodity markets Friday. Lightly traded and soon-to-expire January contracts are still rooted above $20 per cwt, with prices gaining 3 cents per cwt. February futures led the market with a strong end-of-the-week rally holding through the closing bell. These actively traded contracts posted gains of 22 cents per cwt at the closing bell, settling at $19.37 per cwt. The expectation that milk production continues to fade lower through the end of 2024 and confirmed by the Milk Production Report released Friday afternoon is helping to bring limited but supporting buyer interest back into the complex. All other nearby contracts posted slight single-digit gains while deferred contracts were very lightly traded with thin losses at the end of the week. The number of milk cows on farms in the 24 major States was 8.91 million head, 17,000 head more than December 2023, but 8,000 head less than November 2024. Current cattle and beef values are creating incentive to move lower-producing cows out of the herd at this time. This could continue to reduce overall dairy herd numbers in the coming months.
AVERAGE CLASS III PRICES:
| 3 Month: | $19.58 |
| 6 Month: | $19.27 |
| 9 Month: | $19.16 |
| 12 Month: | $19.08 |
CHEESE:
Cash cheese prices were steady to higher Friday with block cheese prices posting a moderate gain of 1.25 cents per pound. The upward support in block cheese markets helped to push prices to $1.8325 a pound with moderate sales reported during the session. Barrel cheese prices remained unchanged at $1.82 per pound. Five loads of block cheese sold on the exchange during the last trading day of the week, while one load of barrel cheese sold at a steady price of $1.82 a pound. One bid of block cheese remained on the exchange floor. While one uncovered offer for barrel cheese remained untraded. Weekly volume of block cheese stands at 13 loads, while barrel cheese reported 8 loads of product selling during the week. This moved block cheese's weekly average price to 1.8019 per pound, which is nearly 8 cents under last week's average price. Barrel cheese price average remains at $1825 per pound, which is nearly 5 cents below last week's average price. Total natural cheese stocks in refrigerated warehouses on Dec. 31, 2024, were up 2% from the previous month but down 6% from Dec. 31, 2023. Total natural cheese in current storage is at 1.36 billion pounds. American cheese stocks are at 772 million pounds at the end of December, which is 1% above November levels, but 8% below year-ago levels. Swiss cheese is the only cheese product where stocks are higher than year-ago levels with Swiss Cheese stocks 13% above year-ago levels. This is likely to have a very limited overall impact given that Swiss cheese is the smallest category of cheese separately listed on the report.
BUTTER:
Cash butter prices shifted higher Friday with prices gaining 1.75 per pound, moving to $2.53 per pound. A total of three loads sold on the exchange, with an additional 4 bids remaining on the floor and 2 offers unable to be filled. A total of 10 loads of butter sold on the exchange through the week, moving the current price average to $2.5233 a pound, which is nearly 4 cents under last week's average price. Nonfat dry milk prices decreased 0.5 cent per pound, with one load traded at the end of the week. Dry Whey prices slipped 0.25 cent per pound, moving to 69.75 cents per pound. On the monthly cold storage report released Friday afternoon, butter stocks were up 4% from last month and up 11% from a year ago. Total butter in storage at the end of December is listed at 222.3 million pounds. The significant shift higher in butter stock levels, while cheese stocks are sliding lower could continue to have a moderate price impact over the upcoming days and weeks, although producers continue to build butter inventory ahead of the Easter and Passover demand season.
OUTSIDE MARKETS SUMMARY:
March corn closed down 3.25 cents per bushel at $4.8650, March soybeans closed down 9.75 cents at $10.5575 and March soybean meal closed down $10.40 per ton at $304.90. March Chicago wheat closed down 10.00 cents at $5.4400. April live cattle closed up $2.30 at $203.03. March crude oil is down .05 per barrel at $74.57. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 140.82 points at 44,424.25 and NASDAQ is down 99.38 points at 19,954.30.
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