Tuesday Closing Dairy Market Update - December Fluid Milk Sales Increase 2.4%

MILK:

Milk futures continue to make new lows on nearly a daily basis. The March Class III contract closed at the lowest level since Aug. 23, 2024. The June contract fell below $18.00 during the day. Class IV futures have been more bearish with the March futures contract falling to the lower level since Feb. 29, 2024. Butter and nonfat dry milk prices have declined further than cheese and dry whey prices. December fluid milk sales we 2.4% higher than a year ago. Whole milk sales increased 2.9%; flavored whole milk sales jumped 12.3%; reduced fat decreased 3.4%; low fat milk decreased 3.4%; fat-free skim declined 8.0%; flavored fat-reduced milk sales decreased 0.7%; buttermilk sales increased 3.5% with other fluid milk products up 49.8%. Organic whole milk sales increased 17.7%; organic flavored while milk sales jumped 40.8%; organic reduced fat increased 7.6%; organic low-fat milk decreased 5.0%; organic fat-free sales declined 6.0%; organic flavored fat-reduced milk fell 34.5%; with other organic fluid milk sales up 23.9%.

AVERAGE CLASS III PRICES:

3 Month:	$19.10
6 Month:	$18.68
9 Month:	$18.65
12 Month:	$18.57

CHEESE:

Cheese prices have not been moving much, but the inability of prices to increase continues to be negative on the market. The barrel cheese price is trending lower with the barrel supply readily available for demand. Blocks show better support, but supply is sufficient for demand. Spot milk is difficult to find due to plants positioning themselves as net buyers. This has more plants looking for available spot milk, keeping prices higher.

BUTTER:

The butter price moved to a new low for the year as buyers wait for lower prices. The only bid during spot trading today was $2.20. This is a concern as many times the closest bid being low at a significantly lower price indicates that is where the nearest support may be. We hope the price will not move to that level, but we certainly cannot rule that out in the current market environment.

OUTSIDE MARKETS SUMMARY:

May corn closed down 2.75 cents per bushel at $4.9425, March soybeans closed up 2.25 cents at $10.3125 and May soybean meal closed up $2.10 per ton at $303.00. May Chicago wheat closed down 5.75 cents at $5.8775. April live cattle closed up $0.63 at $195.73. April crude oil is down $1.77 per barrel at $68.93. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 160 points at 43,621 with the NASDAQ down 261 points at 19,026.