Dairy markets ended the week on a high note, cash cheese barrels on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange increased 2.5 cents on Friday to close at $1.3125 while blocks gained 3.5 cents to close at $1.325. For the week, barrels gained 4.75 cents and blocks increased 5.5 cents.
Seems the increasing cheese prices have prompted some buyers to step up to the plate however Dairy Market News there has not been enough activity to prompt overtime at packagers. Some believe there will not be a substantial increase in cheese prices until summer heat starts to influence milk production. Right now, milk production is picking up in most regions of the country.
The total number of dairy cows sent to slaughter in February was 223,000, which is 9,000 less than in January and 20,000 less than February of 2009. 70,000 of the cows shipped in February were from Arizona, California, Nevada and Hawaii, 69,000 came out of the upper Midwest.
For the first two months of the year, 455,000 dairy cows went to slaughter, 69,000 less than the first two months of last year.
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