In Class III trade at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, milk futures were mostly lower, following the recent market trend. January, the only active contract in the black, was up $.05 at $16.57, February was down $.14 at $16.70, March was $.11 at $16.92, and April was down $.18 at $17.07.
Cash cheese blocks were down $.0025 at $1.6575. There was one trade at $1.6575. Barrels held at $1.595.
Butter was unchanged at $2.26. The last uncovered offer was for one load at $2.26.
Nonfat dry milk was up $.0025 at $1.03. The last unfilled bid was on one load at $1.03. The last uncovered offer was for one load at $1.0425.
The USDA says butter for the week ending December 31st averaged $2.16 per pound, up $.048 on the week. 40 pound blocks of cheddar came out at $1.77, down $.019. 500 pound barrels averaged $1.68, $.023 lower. Dry whey was pegged at $.414, $.007 higher. Nonfat dry milk averaged $.993, up $.023.
For December, the Class II milk price was $15.26 per hundredweight, up $.66 from November. Class III came out at $17.40, $.64 higher. The Class IV price of $14.97 was $1.21 higher.
California’s Department of Food and Agriculture reports the average nonfat dry milk price for the week ending December 30th was $.9681 per pound, up $.0066 on the week and the fifth week in a row with a gain. Sales of 3,471,600 pounds were down 6,776,855 pounds from the previous week
Source: Brownfield Ag News
