Market News

Cautious optimism in dairy

Things continue to nudge higher in the dairy markets. Cash cheese barrels increased 2 cents on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange on Tuesday.  Blocks gained a half-cent, butter increased a nickel and nonfat dry milk gained a penny.  Class III futures were a little lower for some of the near months but July through December, 2015 contracts were all a little higher.

 

While all indicators point to farm milk prices to continue to decline at least through the first half of the year, there is still a lot of optimism in the dairy industry. Most producers used the record income of 2014 to put themselves in a better financial position.  Brad Rock, Dairy Division manager for the National Farmers Organization sees another bright spot for the future; the number of young people getting involved in the industry.  Rock says he was especially encouraged by the number of young families at the NFO annual meeting last week in Nashville.