OVERVIEW:
It appeared that bearish traders would take a break from selling today, especially in butter and Class IV, but things took a turn lower this afternoon.
MILK:
Class III milk futures are currently trading 6 to 29 cents lower this afternoon. Class IV milk traded sideways for the majority of the day, seeing a break in the butter selloff, but turned lower this afternoon, trading 17 to 20 cents lower. Non-Fat Dry Milk traded 1 cent lower in the cash trade while futures hovered around 0.50 cent lower to 1.15 cents lower. Headlines from market news focused on the shrinking size of the dairy cow herd across the country and how rising beef cattle prices make it difficult to build a story on how we can grow our dairy herds any time soon.
AVERAGE CLASS III PRICES:
| 3 Month: | $17.61 |
| 6 Month: | $17.55 |
| 9 Month: | $17.53 |
| 12 Month: | $17.56 |
CHEESE:
Cheese futures are 1.3 to 2.3 cents lower, with not much new to report currently. The cash market had no trades for blocks or barrels and prices remained steady. It is still early yet to start anticipating holiday buying and supply seems to be sufficient.
BUTTER:
Butter futures are currently trading 0.125 to 1.7 cents lower this afternoon. Still a mild selloff as futures are remaining a premium to the cash market. The cash market was unchanged today, with two loads trading. Cream is plentiful as cows are producing a high milk fat product.
OUTSIDE MARKETS SUMMARY:
December corn closed 5 cents per bushel higher at $4.18, November soybeans closed down 9.5 cents at $10.315 and December soybean meal closed 1.3 cents per ton lower at $282.50. December Chicago wheat closed down 6.25 cents at $5.22. October live cattle closed $1.325 lower at $238.200. October crude oil is $1.84 per barrel lower at $63.75. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is off by 24 points at 45,271, with the NASDAQ up 218 points at 21,497.
