OVERVIEW:
Butter had a strong day alongside Dry Whey in the cash market today, bringing small gains across the futures market this afternoon. The September Milk Production Report was released, bringing some shocking new headlines.
MILK:
Class III and Class IV prices had small gains today but relatively unchanged. The September Milk Production Report was finally released this afternoon despite the ongoing government shutdown and brought some shocking headlines of a 4.2% increase in milk production from September 2024. While the majority of 2025 has trended well above 2024 production levels, there was a small amount of relief as the September production was down 500 million pounds from the revised 18.8 billion pounds of production in August.
AVERAGE CLASS III PRICES:
| 3 Month: | $16.92 |
| 6 Month: | $16.79 |
| 9 Month: | $16.92 |
| 12 Month: | $17.10 |
CHEESE:
Cheese started of the week relatively uneventful. Cash was steady to 0.25 cent lower in barrels and futures showed slight increases across the board. The outlook for cheese is expected to remain steady with no real bullish news expected in the near future.
BUTTER:
After such a tough week last week for butter prices, it was a pleasant surprise to see butter rally in the cash market today. Demand was high with 18 loads traded and prices rallied 3.5 cents. Futures were a little disappointing in that the small gains didn't materialize more than they did with the limited trading activity. The outlook for butter is still not positive due to the high milk fat seen this year but as winter approaches, the production should trend lower.
OUTSIDE MARKETS SUMMARY:
December corn closed up 2.5 cents per bushel at $4.2975, January soybeans closed up 13 cents at $11.16 and December soybean meal closed up $2.90 per ton at $320.0. December Chicago wheat closed up 8 cents at $5.3575. December live cattle closed up limit $7.25 higher at $228.55. December crude oil is down $0.08 per barrel at $60.05. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 381 points at 47,368, with the NASDAQ up 522 points at 23,527.
