MILK:
Class III milk futures closed lower but held up well despite the substantial decrease in cheese prices. Traders had been cautious as cheese prices increased, leaving fewer long positions that needed to be liquidated. It seemed buyers and sellers reacted to the negative milk production report a day later, as buyers stepped back. Increasing milk production and cow numbers will ensure sufficient milk will be available throughout the rest of the year. Farmers are not culling cows heavily but keeping the stalls full of cows that are already paid for. March dairy cattle slaughter totaled 217,900 head, an increase of 900 head from February, but 26,700 less than March 2024. This makes the 19th consecutive month of slaughter lower than a year earlier.
AVERAGE CLASS III PRICES:
| 3 Month: | $17.66 |
| 6 Month: | $17.86 |
| 9 Month: | $17.94 |
| 12 Month: | $17.94 |
CHEESE:
The March Cold Storage report showed the inventory of American cheese increased by 18.1 million pounds, totaling 793.5 million pounds. This was 4% lower than March 2024. Swiss cheese inventory decreased by 537,000 pounds, totaling 23.3 million pounds, up 7% from a year ago. Other cheese inventories increased by 3.5 million pounds to a total of 575.0 million pounds, and 5% below March 2024. Total cheese inventory was 1.392 billion pounds, up 15.9 million pounds from March 2024. This was 4% lower than a year ago.
BUTTER:
The March butter inventory increased by 18.1 million pounds from February, totaling 323.7 million pounds. This was 4% below a year ago. The increase was less than anticipated, and stocks were not as high as expected compared to a year ago. Butter production was strong with abundant cream supplies, but demand must have been good to limit inventory growth.
OUTSIDE MARKETS SUMMARY:
May corn closed up 5.25 cents per bushel at $4.7725, July soybeans closed up 11.75 cents at $10.6200 and July soybean meal closed down $1.90 per ton at $296.70. July Chicago wheat closed up 1.00 cent at $5.4450. June live cattle closed down $0.10 at $208.00. June crude oil is up $0.48 per barrel at $62.75. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 487 points at 40,093, with the NASDAQ up 458 points at 17,166.
