Market News

Milk futures lower, cash cheese steady

Class III milk futures at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange were pressured by technical selling. August was $.10 lower at $16.55, September was down $.09 at $16.82, October was $.12 lower at $16.98, and November was down $.09 at $16.99. Cash cheese blocks were unchanged at $1.71. Two loads were sold at $1.71. The last uncovered offer was for one load at $1.72. Barrels were steady at $1.485. 12 loads were sold, three at $1.485 and nine at $1.4825. The last uncovered offer was for one load at $1.4875.

Butter was $.0125 lower at $2.6375. Eight loads were sold, one at $2.6325, three at $2.635, and four at $2.6375. The last unfilled bid was on one load at $2.62. The last uncovered offer was for three loads $2.635.

Nonfat dry milk was $.0075 higher at $.86. Seven loads were sold, all at $.86. The last unfilled bid was on one load, also at $.86.

The USDA set the August 2017 base Class I milk price at $16.72 per hundredweight, up $.13 from July 2017. The base skim price is $6.55 per hundredweight, down $.77.

The USDA says cash butter for the week ending July 15th averaged $2.61 per pound, down $.045 from the previous week. 40 pound blocks of cheddar came out at $1.59, $.022 lower. 500 pound barrels averaged $1.42, down $.003. Dry whey was pegged at $.447, $.005 lower. Nonfat dry milk averaged $.903, up $.001.

HighGround Dairy reports milk production in the European Union during May 2017 was 14.18 million tons, down 0.01% from May 2016. Production in the United Kingdom for the week ending July 8th was up 0.3% on the year, while production in France for the week ending July 9th was down 3.8%.