Tuesday Morning Dairy Market Update - December Income Over Feed Was $13.38

OPENING CALLS:

Class III Milk Futures:	Mixed
Class IV Milk Futures:	Mixed
Butter Futures:	Steady to 1 Lower

OUTSIDE MARKET OPENING CALLS:

Corn Futures:	Mixed
Soybean Futures:	1 to 2 Lower
Soybean Meal Futures:	$3 to $4 Higher
Wheat Futures:	3 to 4 Lower

MILK:

Traders and the dairy industry seemed to breath a sign of relief for the time being. The tariffs that were to be put on Mexico and Canada have been pushed back 30 days to provide time for further talks and negotiations. This relieved some of the bearish selling pressure that had been on milk futures since last week. Cheese, butter and dry whey prices declined limiting a price rebound, leaving milk futures mixed into the close on Monday. Buyers will need to step in to purchase in the cash market to get traders excited. The average soybean meal price for December was $303.63, down $12.55 from November, and down $136.97 per ton from December 2023. This was the final price needed to determine the income over feed price for the Dairy Margin Coverage program. The income over feed price was $13.38. This compares to $14.49 in November and $8.44 in December.

CHEESE:

Cheese prices may see further weakness before they move low enough to stimulate more aggressive buying interest. The weakness of dry whey is a concern as it increases the bearishness of the market.

BUTTER:

The butter price continues to show weakness. Manufacturers want to move butter to the market rather than building inventory at this time of year. The buyers see no need to be aggressive as churning is active and butter inventory is increasing.