GENERAL OVERVIEW:
Cheese blocks and barrels both traded lower in the spot market earlier today bringing weakness to Class III milk futures. Dairy market futures saw lower trade across the board in nearly every contract.
MILK:
Class III futures saw lower trade Thursday afternoon as futures traded 6 to 27 cents lower in the late day trade. The average price of Nonfat Dry Milk for the week ending Nov. 7, reported by the USDA was $2.0705 per pound. That is a decline of 4.6 cents from the previous week. Class IV futures have been extremely quiet this week with settlements nearly unchanged all week.
AVERAGE CLASS III PRICES:
| 3 Month: | $17.20 |
| 6 Month: | $17.08 |
| 9 Month: | $17.20 |
| 12 Month: | $17.36 |
CHEESE:
Cheese futures traded 1.2 to 2.4 cents lower Thursday afternoon. Cheddar cheese blocks fell 6 cents in the spot market today, while barrels traded 2 cents lower. There has been volatility in the spot market lately, driven by the time of year. Holiday buying has been supportive, but buyers are price sensitive. The AMS National Dairy Sales Report saw an increase of 11.2 cents from the previous week for 40-pound block cheddar cheese prices, coming in at $1.6397 per pound.
BUTTER:
Butter futures traded anywhere from 0.675 cents lower Thursday afternoon to as much as 1.475 cents higher in the deferred contracts. The spot market declined 2.5 cents for butter loads today. The AMS National Dairy Product Sales report saw a decrease in the average butter price of 1.4 cents from last week at $1.3560 per pound.
OUTSIDE MARKETS SUMMARY:
December corn closed down 5.50 cents per bushel at $4.4250, January soybeans closed down 11.75 cents at $12.1900 and December soybean meal closed down $4.30 per ton at $325.40. December Chicago wheat closed down 15.25 cents at $5.8425.
December live cattle closed down $0.08 at $218.90. December crude oil is up 2.17 per barrel at $88.70. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 189 points at 52,297 and NASDAQ is down 100 points at 25,366.
