Market News

Milk futures, cash dairy mostly lower

In Class III trade at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, milk future were mostly lower on spread trade and follow through selling. July was down $.06 at $15.27, August was $.05 lower at $16.45, September was up $.01 at $16.49, and October was down $.06 at $16.49.

Over in the spot market, cash cheese blocks were down $.015 at $1.665. The last uncovered offer was for one load at that price. Barrels were unchanged at $1.755 with two trades. The last unfilled bid was on one load at $1.745. The last uncovered offer was for one load at the closing price.

Butter was $.005 lower at $2.295. There were a total of 13 trades reported. The last unfilled bid was on one load at $2.27.

Nonfat dry milk was down $.0225 at $.84. There were two trades, one at $.84 and one at $.85. The last unfilled bid was on one load at $.82. The last uncovered offer was for one load at $.86.

The USDA says total commercial cattle slaughter during June was 2.706 million head, 10% more than a year ago. The dairy cow kill was 223,700 head, up 2,200 from last year, and 8.4% of the monthly total.