Class III milk futures at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange resumed the recent trend, taking back Tuesday’s gains, and then some, in most months. March was $.06 lower at $15.66, April was down $.27 at $15.24, May was $.39 lower at $15.36, and June was down $.32 at $15.83.
Cash cheese blocks were down $.01 at $1.36. There were four loads sold, including two at $1.36. The last uncovered offer was for one load at $1.37. Barrels were $.025 lower at $1.375. There were two loads sold, one at $1.375 and one at $1.395. The last uncovered offer was for one load at $1.40.
Butter was down $.03 at $2.15. There was one load sold at $2.15.
Nonfat dry milk was $.01 lower at $.795. There were a total of six loads sold, including three at $.79. The last unfilled bid was on one load at $.795. The last uncovered offer was for one load at $.80.
The USDA reports cash butter for the week ending March 11th averaged $2.19 per pound, up $.034 on the week. 40 pound blocks of cheddar came out at $1.59, down $.043. 500 pound barrels averaged $1.59, $.062 lower. Dry whey was pegged at $.52, $.008 higher. Nonfat dry milk averaged $.849, a drop of $.078.
California’s Department of Food and Agriculture says nonfat dry milk for the week ending March 10th averaged $.8337 per pound, down $.0921 on the week. Sales were 16,423,208 pounds, a jump of 10,249,411 from the week before.
According to HighGround Dairy, milk production in the United Kingdom, for the week ending March 4th, was down 0.7% on the year, and milk production in France, for the week ending March 5th, was 1.6% lower than last year.
Source: Brownfield Ag News
