Dairy markets continued their downhill decent as we kicked off the first day of May. May 2023 milk lost 22 cents while June outpaced it by a penny and fell 23 cents, and July followed closely behind down 21. The June contract month spent its first trading day with a $16 handle in front of it as it traded as low as $16.96/cwt. The August settlement on Class III came in 18 cents lower whereas September through December ranged from 4-10 weaker. Q1 2024 was actually a bright spot as markets gain 6-11 cents/cwt. Class IV markets were essentially unchanged as June was the lone month to change in value from Friday in 2022.
The CME spot dairy index had unchanged to lower settlements across all product markets. Whey led the decline as it dropped 2.75 cents to $0.325/lb on 12 loads exchanging hands. Barrel cheese was right behind it softening 2.5 cents as 7 trades took place. Block cheese held things together a bit better but still lost a half cent. Nonfat dry milk was reduced 1.75 cents to $1.1575/lb. Butter was the lone product to end the day unchanged which came in at a value of $2.3525/lb.
Grain markets were mixed on Monday. Corn lost an additional 2.5 cents in December as futures now stand at $5.25/bu. Soybeans added 8-15 cents/bu across the curve. November new crop futures are back to $12.75/bu. Soybean meal gained $1-$4/ton in 2023 and 2024. The wheat complex was off 13-19 cents/cwt.
