GENERAL OVERVIEW:
Milk futures closed under pressure. It was not due to spot prices falling but rather from a continuation of the cash weakness on Monday. The enrollment for the Dairy Margin Coverage program began on Jan. 12.
MILK:
Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced the enrollment period for the Dairy Margin Coverage program began Jan. 12. The signup period will continue through Feb. 26. Farmers now have a Tier 1 coverage on six million pounds of milk. Dairies will have the option to choose coverage levels for up to six years, which would result in a premium discount of 25% if they sign up for the program through 2031. All dairy operations that enroll in the Dairy Margin Coverage program for 2026 will establish a new production history. Existing dairy operations that started marketing milk on or before Jan. 1, 2023, will use the higher of milk marketings for the years of 2021, 2022 or 2023. New dairy operations that began milking cows after Jan. 1, 2023, will use their first year of monthly milk marketings, even if it was for a partial year. Milk futures were under pressure today. Not from lower spot prices, but as a follow-through from lower cheese prices on Monday.
AVERAGE CLASS III PRICES:
| 3 Month: | $14.95 |
| 6 Month: | $15.61 |
| 9 Month: | $16.23 |
| 12 Month: | $16.56 |
CHEESE:
The minor increase in the block cheese price today is meaningless in indicating the potential for a bottom to be established in the market. Buyers are not interested in aggressively purchasing cheese for inventory and are purchasing mainly on price weakness. The level of cheese production continues to keep sufficient cheese supplies readily available to the market.
BUTTER:
The price has been able to hold for the past two days, but mainly due to the sellers being less aggressive in the market. Buyers have also not been aggressive as they see no reason to be. There is concern that the price will decline further due to excess supply. Churns continue to operate on full schedules.
OUTSIDE MARKETS SUMMARY:
March corn closed down 1.75 cents per bushel at $4.1975, March soybeans closed down 10.25 cents at $10.3875 and March soybean meal closed down $6.70 per ton at $291.60. March Chicago wheat closed down .75 cent at $5.1050. February live cattle closed up $2.00 at $237.25. February crude oil is up $1.65 per barrel at $61.15. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 398 points at 49,192, with the NASDAQ is down 24 points at 23,710.
