The on-again, off-again rollercoaster in terms of trade and tariff headlines continued today, following an early morning post from President Trump. After headlines suggested tariffs would be pushed back to April, the President started today’s markets reaffirming that tariffs would indeed begin on March 4. Stay tuned. Class III markets added back a small portion of what has been lost over recent weeks with strength from yesterday’s USDA Cold Storagereport. Class IV was mainly unchanged but did lean slightly bearish on the day.
Today’s Highlights from Ever.Ag’s Know Your Markets
- Spot butter recouped yesterday’s losses, rising by a penny and settling at $2.3450 per pound, with five lots exchanged. The opposite was true of CME NDM, which gave up yesterday’s gain to dip back to $1.2000 per pound, down $0.0075. One lot traded. CME cheese markets continue to move around in a narrow range, with blocks unchanged and barrels ticking up to $1.8050 per pound, one cent higher. Five lots of blocks and one of barrels changed hands. Spot dry whey resumed its decline, shedding a penny to close at $0.5250 per pound. Two lots traded.
- USDA’s Ag Outlook Forum painted a bearish picture for US corn, pegging 2024-25 crop yield estimates at 181.0 bushels per acre compared to 177.3 bushels last year. Nearby corn futures responded by falling to $4.6475 per bushel, a 13.5-cent loss. Soybean yield estimates rose to 52.5 bushels per acre compared to 50.6 last year. But nearby futures didn’t react much, down $0.0175 to $10.2275 per bushel.
- The cream market remains sloppy as it becomes more difficult to find a home for loads. USDA reported multiples in the Upper Midwest at 104 compared to 111 last week, 121 last year and 122 on the five-year average. Spot milk is a little tighter, but not dramatically so. USDA pegged prices in the Upper Midwest at a midpoint of $1.25 per hundredweight under class, down from -$0.88 last week and +$1.38 in 2024, but up from -$2.90 on the five-year average.
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