Monday Morning Dairy Market Update - Cold Storage Report Today

OPENING CALLS:

Class III Milk Futures:	5 to 15 Higher
Class IV Milk Futures:	5 to 10 Higher
Butter Futures:	1 to 3 Higher

OUTSIDE MARKET OPENING CALLS:

Corn Futures:	1 to 2 Lower
Soybean Futures:	1 to 3 Lower
Soybean Meal Futures:	$1 to $2 Higher
Wheat Futures:	1 to 2 Higher

MILK:

Overnight milk futures are extending the gains of Friday. Trading volume is good, indicating there may be further short-covering Monday. Traders anticipate buying interest in cheese may be stronger today, providing further support to the market. Cheese may follow the pattern of butter as buying for the holidays may become more prominent at these lower prices. Milk production is mixed across the country. Spot milk availability remains tight and what is available is commanding higher prices. There is sufficient milk available for bottling and manufacturing to keep plants satisfied. Inventory is being used to satisfy demand, resulting in a seasonal decline. USDA will release the August Cold Storage report Monday.

CHEESE:

Spot cheese trading is expected to see further gains Monday as cheese buyers may come in to take advantage of the lower prices. The strength of butter may be leading the market higher as holiday demand is moving more in focus as buyers assess inventory and potential demand. Cheese inventory is expected to be below year earlier levels in the cold storage report Monday.

BUTTER:

There is no way of telling whether buyers have reached a threshold for butter or if buyers need to purchase more to fill orders and prepare for holding demand. Price moving to $3.00 has been a surprise with follow- through buying likely to continue. Churning is active with demand utilizing fresh supply as well as some inventory.

Friday Closing Dairy Market Update - Class IV Futures Post Strong Gain This Week

MILK

Class IV futures posted large gains during the second half of the week, moving October and November futures above $20.00 to a level not seen since February. The strong gain of butter propelled contracts higher. Class III futures were under pressure the first four days of the week and finally saw a bounce today. Futures price increases today were limited as traders remained cautious. Gains were capped due to spot cheese prices slipping back from the highs. Closer Class IV contracts are around $3.00 above Class III futures. Milk production has rebounded from the depressed levels seen during the hot weather, but production has not moved back to previous levels. Some manufacturing plants would like to have access to more milk than they have through regular channels, but not much extra milk is available. Bottling demand is steady with a large amount moving to school accounts.

AVERAGE CLASS III PRICES

3 Month:	$17.64
6 Month:	$17.87
9 Month:	$18.03
12 Month:	$18.16

CHEESE

Cheese prices were under substantial pressure this week as buyers held back seeing that sellers wanted to move supply almost at whatever price they could get. Buyers purchased on the way down picking up supply at ever lower prices. The bounce today may indicate the slide is complete, but that is uncertain with just one day of an increase. For the week blocks fell 10 cents with three loads traded. Barrels fell 21 cents with 35 loads traded. dry whey increased 0.25 cent with 30 loads traded.

BUTTER

It was a banner week for butter with price moving to the highest level since October 28, 2022. Price gained 28.25 cents closing the week at $3.00 with 23 loads traded. Price is now 26.75 cents away from the record high achieved about a year ago. Grade A nonfat dry milk gained 5.75 cents for the week with 13 loads traded. USDA will release the August Cold Storage report on Monday. Butter stocks may be higher than a year ago but not by very much.

OUTSIDE MARKETS SUMMARY

December corn closed up 2.00 cents per bushel at $4.7725, November soybeans closed up 2.50 cents at $12.9625 and December soybean meal closed down $2.30 per ton at $385.80. December Chicago wheat closed up 3.75 cents at $5.7950. December live cattle closed up $1.85 at $191.35. November crude oil is up $0.40 per barrel at $90.03. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 107 points at 33,964 with the NASDAQ down 12 points at 13,212.

Friday Midday Dairy Market Summary - Butter Reaches $3 Mark

OUTSIDE MARKETS SUMMARY:

CORN:	3 Higher
SOYBEANS:	5 Higher
SOYBEAN MEAL:	$0.30 Lower
LIVE CATTLE:	$1.92 Higher
DOW JONES:	3 Points Higher
NASDAQ:	73 Points Higher
CRUDE OIL:	$0.43 Higher

MIDDAY MARKET UPDATE:

Block cheese price increased a penny, closing at $1.78 with two loads traded and an offer for one load remaining at the close. The price initially increased to $1.7875 but couldn't hold the gain. Barrel cheese price increased 3.50 cents, closing at $1.60 with eight loads traded with one uncovered offer and seven unfilled bids at the close. Price initially gained 5.50 cents before selling pressure caused it to slip from the highs. Dry whey price gained 1.50 cents, closing at 30.25 with 12 loads traded. Class III futures are 9 cents lower to 19 cents higher. The only loss is in the July contract. Butter price jumped 6.50 cents, closing at $3 with four loads traded and three unfilled bids remaining at the close. Grade A nonfat dry milk price increased a penny, closing at $1.17 with three loads traded. Class IV futures are 7 cents lower to 25 cents higher. Butter futures are unchanged at 7.50 cents higher. Dry whey is unchanged at 0.60 cent higher.