Class III milk markets continued its recent strength as prices climbed 11-35 cents/cwt between December 2020 and December 2021. First half 2021 ended the session with an average north of $17 while second half prices are now pushing $17.40/cwt. Class IV on the other hand had a few months with weakness as most lost 1-10 cents/cwt.
The CME spot dairy auction witnessed small changes in price on Thursday. Butter closed the session unchanged at $1.5150/lb. Block cheese traded 13 times and a quarter cent lower with a settlement of $1.6425/lb. Barrel cheese added a half cent to $1.4250/lb as 6 loads moved from seller to buyer. Grade A nonfat dry milk softened a penny to $1.1275/lb, 7 transaction took place during the session. Whey gained a half cent to $0.47/lb.
USDA released their December version of the World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates. Traders were a little disappointed in that ending stocks didn’t drop much at all. Looking at the corn balance sheet no changes were seen. Ending stocks remained at 1.702 billion bushels. Soybeans had a small increase in crush and ending stocks fell by 15 million bushels to 175 million bushels, well within the range of expectations. Grain prices which rallied early fell off after the report and closed lower other than wheat. Wheat turned in a nice day of trade after rumors that Russia may limit exports.
