Thursday, March 13, 2025

Thursday Morning Dairy Market Update - Traders are Cautious Over Further Gains

OPENING CALLS:

Class III Milk Futures: 5 to 10 Higher
Class IV Milk Futures: 4 to 8 Higher
Butter Futures: Steady to 1 Higher

OUTSIDE MARKET OPENING CALLS:

Corn Futures: 2 to 4 Higher
Soybean Futures: 7 to 9 Higher
Soybean Meal Futures: $4 to $5 Higher
Wheat Futures: 4 to 5 Higher

MILK:

Spot butter and cheese prices moving higher on Wednesday provided the support to milk futures. Futures were higher, but traders remained cautious over the strength of cash prices. Price increases over the past months have been short-lived. The result continued with lower prices as sellers would become more aggressive with selling supplies. Milk production is improving seasonally, which will keep the market supplied. Extra milk is available with the spot milk prices as much as $2.50 below class. The supply of heifers remains tight and prices high. This will limit expansion and may limit the increase of cow numbers.

CHEESE:

Traders are cautious about continued strength of spot cheese prices. Price increases have not lasted very long. Sellers took advantage of higher prices to move more supply. It is uncertain whether this pattern will be followed or if the time of year and low prices will generate greater buying interest as buyers position themselves for the year.

BUTTER:

The increasing supply of butter and the abundant supply of cream may limit the upside price potential. Retail butter demand is improving, but demand from the food service industry is not as strong as usual for this time of year. Sellers continue to offer a large amount of butter on the spot market to reduce the increase of plant inventories. This allows buyers to increase ownership without having to be aggressive. This allows them to increase their supplies for later demand and may reduce the price potential of butter as the year progresses.




Tuesday Closing Dairy Market Update - May Income Over Feed Was $10.40

MILK: The June Class III contract closed at $18.75 while the Class IV contract closed at $18.37. These are the levels the trade thin...