At the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, class III milk futures closed Wednesday relatively flat range despite a positive supply and demand forecast for milk prices. The average of Class III milk from now through the end of the year fell a penny to $16.21 while the average for Class IV for the balance of 2018 fell 26 cents to finish at $14.90. Grade A nonfat dry milk did the same falling 2 and a quarter-cent to finish at 87 and three-quarter cents.
Turning our attention back to the dairy product trade, block cheese rose a half a cent to finish at $1.63 while barrels rose 3 cents to return to $1.48 and a half. Whey prices rose another quarter-cent to set a new record at 52 and a quarter-cent while butter fell 2 and three-quarters to complete the trade at $2.19 and three-quarters.