MILK:
Class III milk futures struggled for a while after spot trading. The weakness of blocks and dry whey had traders on the defensive. However, most contracts managed to close higher at the end. The movement of the underlying cash today will leave traders cautious. The January Federal Order class prices were released. The Class II price was $21.58, up $0.30 from December. This was $1.54 higher than January 2024. The Class III price was $20.34, up $1.7s from December and $5.17 higher than a year ago. The Class IV price was $20.73, down $0.01 from December and $1.34 higher than January 2024. We are a lot better off than a year ago, but it certainly does not feel like it as expenses are high. Due to the release of the Dairy Products report, there are no Dairy Revenue Protection prices released today.
AVERAGE CLASS III PRICES:
| 3 Month: | $20.01 |
| 6 Month: | $19.53 |
| 9 Month: | $19.34 |
| 12 Month: | $19.13 |
CHEESE:
The December Dairy Products report was released today. American cheese output totaled 470 million pounds, down 3.9% below December 2023. Italian-type cheese production totaled 523 million pounds, up 3.1% from a year ago. Total cheese output was 1.20 billion pounds, down 0.7% below December 2024. Dry whey production totaled 69.0 million pounds, down 4.9% from a year ago. The production of lactose reached 93.8 million pounds, up 3.4% with whey protein concentrate production at 41.6 million pounds, down 6.0% from December 2024.
BUTTER:
Butter production totaled 198 million pounds, up 2.3% from a year ago. Nonfat dry milk output totaled 130 million pounds, down 11.6%. Skim milk powder production was 51.0 million pounds, down 20.6%. Regular hard ice cream production reached 52.5 million gallons, up 18.1% from December.
OUTSIDE MARKETS SUMMARY:
March corn closed down 1.25 cents per bushel at $4.9325, March soybeans closed down 18.00 cents at $10.5700 and March soybean meal closed down $5.70 per ton at $308.30. March Chicago wheat closed down 4.75 cents at $5.7225. April live cattle closed up $2.65 at $201.30. March crude oil is down $1.67 per barrel at $71.03. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 317 points at 44,873 with the NASDAQ is up 38 points at 19.692.
