At the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Class III milk futures closed higher Thursday with traders optimistic about the farm bill and stronger global prices for skim milk powder and butter. After products finished their trade, Class III markets climbed to higher ground with the average for the first half of 2019 rising 11 cents to $15.14 per cwt. December closed unchanged at $13.84. January 12 cents higher at $14.30. February up eight cents at $14.52. March up nine cents at $14.87. April through November contracts were four to 14 cents higher. The Class IV market saw similar activity rising a dime in its average for the first six months of 2019. It stands at $15.71 per cwt.
Barrels were unchanged at $1.3150. Blocks remained unchanged at $1.41. Dry whey was up $0.0175 at $0.49. One trade was made at that price. Butter was up $0.02 at $2.20. Four sales were made ranging from $2.1925 to $2.20. Nonfat dry milk was up $0.0025 at $0.9375.
