News

Quiet week in the dairy markets

At the close on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, cash cheese barrels declined a penny to $1.72, blocks held steady at $1.76 and butter gained a half-cent to $1.50. Class III futures gave back a little of what they gained on Thursday.

For the week, cash cheese barrels increased a penny, blocks are two cents higher and cash butter gained a quarter-cent. Class III futures for January through April gained an average 2 cents. Dairy Market News reports things are getting back to normal as schools start to re-open after the holidays and Class I demand rebounds. Cheese production was still strong this week but the football playoffs are starting and that is always good for cheese demand.

Commercial disappearance of dairy products through the first ten months of 2012 was up 2.3 percent from the previous year at 168.9 billion pounds. Fluid milk was 1.8 percent lower but American-type cheese use was 2.8 percent higher, other cheese was 2 percent higher, butter disappearance was 4.8 percent higher and nonfat dry milk use was up 25.6 percent compared to the first ten months of 2011.

The American Farm Bureau’s market basket survey for the fourth quarter of 2012 found a gallon of whole milk cost $3.73 in the grocery store, a half-gallon of whole milk was $2.38, a half-gallon of organic milk was $4.00 and a half-gallon of rBST-free milk was $3.15.