In Class III trade at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, milk futures were mostly lower with the most active months down on follow through selling. September was up $.02 at $16.38, October was down $.28 at $15.66, November was $.25 lower at $15.90, and December was down $.11 at $15.85.
In the spot market, cash cheese blocks were down $.0225 at $1.5625. The last unfilled bid was on two loads at $1.56. The last uncovered offer was for one load at $1.5625. Barrels were unchanged at $1.51. There were a total of thirteen loads sold, including one at the closing price and six at $1.48.
Butter was up $.0325 at $2.00. There were three loads sold, one at $2.00 and two at $1.99. The last unfilled bid was on one load at $1.98. The last uncovered offer was for one load at $2.00.
Nonfat dry milk was $.0125 higher at $.935. There were seventeen loads sold, including three at $.935 and ten at $.925. The last unfilled bid was on five loads at $.935.
For the week ending September 17th, the USDA says butter averaged $2.07 per pound, down 4.6 cents from the week ending the 10th. 40 pound blocks of Cheddar came out at $1.76, 3.7 lower, and 500 pound barrels averaged $1.72, down 3.8. Dry whey was pegged at $.306, up 0.9. Nonfat dry milk averaged $.898, 1.7 cents higher.
The USDA has announced the base Class I milk price for October at $16.60 per hundredweight, up $.04 from September. The skim price is $8.78, $.61 higher.
The USDA says the dairy cow slaughter during August under federal inspection totaled 244,600 head, up from July and August 2015. The year to date total is 1.907 million head, a little bit behind last year. Dairy cows made up 9% of total monthly production, slightly less than the aggregate for the year to date. The dressed weight of all cows was 635 pounds, down 2 on both the month and year.
Source: Brownfield Ag News
