In trading at CME, Class III milk futures closed mixed Wednesday on technical activity. January milk was down $0.02 closing at $13.78. February was $0.05 lower at $13.13. March closed $0.01 lower to $13.18. April milk was up $0.05 at $13.58. The rest of the 2018 milk futures were mostly higher by a penny to six cents a hundredweight.
Grade AA Butter was $0.0125 lower at $2.1675. One load was sold. Barrels were down $0.05 to $1.2950, the lowest settlement price since May 2016. 40 # blocks were $0.0150 lower at $1.44. Nonfat dry milk was $0.05 lower at $0.6650. Two loads were sold ranging from $0.66 to $0.06650.
The USDA reports cash butter for the week ending January 4th averaged $2.22 per pound, $0.011 lower than the previous week. 40 pound blocks of cheddar were pegged at $1.52, $0.034 lower. 500 pound barrels averaged $1.62, a decrease of $0.034. Dry whey came out at $0.285, down $.016. Nonfat dry milk averaged $0.704, down $.002.
California’s Department of Food and Agriculture says the statewide average price for Class I milk for February will be $15.49 per hundredweight, based on production, and $15.61, based on utilization. California’s nonfat dry milk price for the week ending January 5th averaged nearly $0.71 with sales of 4.5 million pounds. The price is down more than five percent from the previous week and 29 percent from the same week last year.