In Class III trade at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, milk futures were mostly lower, with an eye on the fundamentals, but still consolidating a bit after the recent losses. May was down $.02 at $12.93, June was $.01 lower at $12.91, July was up $.03 at $13.15, and August was down $.03 at $13.77.
Over in the spot market, cash cheese was lower. Barrels were down $.0175 at $1.3525 with two loads sold, one at that price and one at $1.3575. The last offer uncovered was for one load at $1.36. Blocks were $.015 lower at $1.325 with one load sold. The last offer uncovered was for one load at $1.3275.
Butter was up $.005 at $2.03. There was one bid unfilled at that price.
Nonfat dry milk was $.005 higher at $.755, with one bid unfilled. The last offer uncovered was for three loads at $.76.
The USDA says that for the week ending April 30th, butter averaged $2.07 per pound, down 1.7 cents on the week with sales of over 3.3 million pounds. 40 pound blocks of cheddar were pegged at $1.46, 1.1 lower, with sales of more than 13.6 million pounds. 500 pound barrels averaged $1.47, down a half cent, with sales topping 10 million pounds. Dry whey came out at $.247, a half cent higher, with sales of 6.6 million pounds. Nonfat dry milk averaged $.726, two tenths of a cent lower, with sales of 31.4 million pounds.
For April, the Class II milk price was $13.54 per hundredweight, down $.03 from March, with the skim price at $5.89 and the butterfat price at $2.245 per pound. Class III’s price for April was $13.63, $.11 lower, with the skim price at $6.01. The Class IV price of $12.68 was down $.06, with the skim price at $5.02 and butterfat price at $2.24. The nonfat solids price was reported at $.56 per pound, with protein at $1.845, and other solids at just under $.05. For products, the average price of butter was just over $2.01 per pound, with nonfat dry milk at $.73, cheese at $1.50, and dry whey at $.25
Source: Brownfield Ag News
