Market News

Class III futures nudge a little higher

Cheddar cheese blocks gained 3.25 cents on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange on Tuesday while barrels, butter and nonfat dry milk were unchanged.  Class III futures with another day of nice increases.

 

Milk production totaled 18 billion pounds in the U.S. in March, up 1.2 percent from a year ago.  Production in the 23 major dairy states increased 1.1 percent to 16.9 billion pounds.  The nation’s dairy herd added 78,000 cows from last March.  For the January-through-March quarter production was 51.9 billion pounds up 1.7 percent from the first quarter of 2014.

Milk production in the United States in March totaled 18 billion pounds up 1.2 percent from March of last year.  The nation’s dairy herd was at 9.3 million head, 78,000 more cows than a year ago and production per cow increased 8 pounds to average 1,941 pounds.

 

USDA will offer Greek yogurt as a protein source in school lunches in the 2015-2016 school year.  The ag department has determined that with twice-as-much protein as traditional yogurt, Greek yogurt can be classified as a substitute for meat as a protein source in the diet.  USDA will accept bids from Greek yogurt manufacturers.