News

Cash cheese slips below $2

Cash cheese slipped below the $2 mark on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange on Thursday.  Barrels lost 3.5 cents, blocks down 5.25 cents on 8 sales and 1 uncovered offer.  Dairy Market News reports milk production and components are declining in the Central U.S. following seasonal trends.  Spot loads of milk are bringing up to $2 over Class, cream multiples are $1.25 to $1.43.

In the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions milk supplies are steady to heavy.  A decline in Class I demand has made more milk available for manufacturing despite seasonal production declines.

Mild weather has prompted some increased production in the Southeast, cows are more comfortable, pastures are good and farmers are reluctant to dry cows off at these prices.  Florida exported 35 loads this week.

Out West milk production is steady to seasonally lower.

The high milk prices are prompting dairy farmers to hang-on to their cows.  USDA reports dairy cow slaughter totaled 199,000 head in June, down 11,000 from May and 21,000 below June of last year.

For the first six months of 2014, nearly 1.4 million dairy cows have been sent to slaughter under federal inspection; 176,000 less than during the January-through-June period of 2013.  The U.S. dairy herd had nearly 9.27 million cows at the end of June, 64,000 more than at the end of last year.