Market News

Cheese and butter up again

Another good day in the cash cheese and butter markets on Thursday. Barrels increased 2 cents, blocks gained 4.5 cents and butter was 4.25 cents higher. Nonfat dry milk slipped 2.5 cents per pound.  Class III futures increased with the cheese market, August gained 8 cents, September added 24 cents and October increased 18 cents.

USDA Dairy Market News says milk volumes and components are declining in the Midwest and West. Surplus milk supplies are tightening, spot loads contracted for August are running 50 cents above Class and that price is expected to go up. Some cheese makers are reluctant to sell additional cheese in the coming months for fear they may not have enough milk to deliver the product. Besides declining volumes, fluid milk demand is about to pick up as schools reopen in a month.  Butter demand remains strong although some plants are choose to delay orders and sell cream to ice cream makers.

The June all-milk price gained 20 cents to $16.90 per hundredweight. Prices range from $20.90 in Florida; up 40 cents from May to $15.72 in California up 60 cents from May. The June Milk-to-Feed Ratio is 2.06 compared to 1.96 in May and 2.20 in June of 2014.