We saw the CME spot butter trade fall 6 ¼ cents to $2.22 ¾ but only 1 load traded with 1 bid and 2 offers remained. The weekly average for butter finished at $2.29 ½, only 4 cents off last week’s average.
The spot cheese market was unchanged. Cheddar blocks held at $1.88 with 2 loads trading and barrels ended at $1.66 ½ with 5 loads moving from seller to buyer. Grade A Nonfat Dry Milk was our lone product to move higher, gaining a penny to $1.03 ¾ with 21 of its 29 weekly loads moving during Friday’s trade. Dry whey was unchanged and failed to move a load at $0.39 ½ /lb.
Class IV milk felt the brunt of the fall in butter. August was unchanged at $16.66, September fell 23 cents to $16.30 and October fell 15 to $16.48/cwt. The August -December average is at $16.53.
Class III milk continued it’s slide lower. August was the outlier, gaining 2 cents to $17.59, September lost 1 cents to $17.22, and October fell 6 to $17.40/cwt. The markets in 2020 were more stable, with Jan and February unchanged and March off 2 cents. Our Jan- March average is at $16.34 /cwt.
Opportunities to secure cheaper feed options continue with another announcement of Chinese tariffs on Friday morning. December corn fell 3 ¼ cents to $3.67 ¾, November soybeans fell 12 ¼ to $8.56 ½, and September soybean meal fell $3.80 to $289.90/ton.