GENERAL OVERVIEW:
It was another negative day for milk futures, with Class IV contracts posting greater losses than Class III. The April Milk Production report was bearish. Milk production was up 2.7 percent, with cow numbers up 10,000 head.
MILK:
Milk futures left much to be desired today as the underlying cash provided little support. The strength in dry whey was offset by the weakness in cheese. The strength in butter was offset by the weakness of nonfat dry milk. This left Class III milk futures lower while putting substantial pressure on Class IV futures. The weakness of nonfat dry milk is eliminating a substantial amount of premium from Class IV futures. The April Milk Production report showed the trend for continued higher milk production and cow numbers. There were 5 of the top 24 states that showed a decrease in milk production from 2025. Washington showed the largest decline of 7.0 percent. Pennsylvania declined 2.0 percent, Virginia was down 0.8 percent, Vermont was down 0.5 percent, and New Mexico declined 0.4 percent. The largest percentage increase was seen in Kansas with an increase of 23.7 percent. Oregon was up 7.4 percent, South Dakota gained 6.3 percent, Indiana was up 5.6 percent, and both Colorado and Georgia were up 5.1 percent. The rest of the gains were less than 5.0 percent.
AVERAGE CLASS III PRICES:
| 3 Month: | $16.79 |
| 6 Month: | $17.33 |
| 9 Month: | $17.55 |
| 12 Month: | $17.58 |
CHEESE:
The April Cold Storage report showed American cheese inventory increased 12.0 million pounds from March to 817.6 million pounds. This is 1 percent below April 2025. Swiss cheese inventory totaled 24.9 million pounds. This was 115,00 pounds above March and was 8 percent above a year ago. Other cheese inventory totaled 575.2 million pounds, down 1 percent from a year ago. Total cheese inventory reached 1.418 billion pounds, up 12.4 million pounds from March, but down 1 percent from April 2025.
BUTTER:
The spot butter price closed higher with a significant volume of 36 loads changing hands.
The April Cold Storage report showed butter stocks increased 18.3 million pounds from March, totaling 308.2 million pounds. Even though inventory increased, stocks are 9.0 percent lower than a year ago.
OUTSIDE MARKETS SUMMARY:
July corn closed down 5.75 cents per bushel at $4.5750, July soybeans closed down 10.50 cents at $11.8600, and July soybean meal closed down $3.30 per ton at $328.60. July Chicago wheat closed down 10.75 cents at $6.3550. August live cattle closed down $0.45 at $239.15. July crude oil is down $2.71 per barrel at $93.89. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 118 points at 50,462, with the NASDAQ up 312 points at 26,656.
