At the Chicago Mercantile Exchange class III milk futures closed mixed Wednesday ahead of a slightly bearish milk production report. Class III prices rose across the board with the average from now through the end of the year, rising a nickel to $16.13. September milk closed up a penny at $16.14. October down a nickel at $16.11. November up six cents at $16.24. December up nine cents at $16.03. January through next August contracts closed a penny lower to six cents higher. Class IV markets saw trading in nearby contracts elevating the average price from now through the end of the year to $15.10, up 13 cents from Tuesday’s finish.
A quick glance at the CME spot trade revealed very similar results to Tuesday. Butter rose another 3 cents to move to $2.30 in the half cents a pound. Grade A nonfat dry milk rose a penny and a half to finish at 88 and a quarter. Barrel cheddar dropped a penny and three quarters to finish at $1.39 while blocks remained unchanged at $1.61 and a half. Dry whey remained unchanged as well and finishes once more at 52 and a half cents.
For October, the USDA has set the base Class I milk price at $16.33 per hundredweight, up $1.48 from September, with the base Class I skim price at $7.71, up $1.79.
The USDA says cash dairy had another strong week of modest gains. The USDA reports cash butter for the week ending September 8th averaged $2.30 per pound, $0.2 higher than the previous week. Blocks of cheddar were pegged at $1.68, $0.02 higher. Barrels averaged $1.64, up $0.033. Dry whey prices averaged $0.397, up $.018. Nonfat dry milk averaged $0.845, up $.018.
