CHICAGO, IL-Sixteen carloads of AA butter were sold on both Monday and Tuesday of this week in the spot market on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange but there was no activity on Wednesday of this week.
The price jumped by 8.5 cents per pound on Monday but then retreated by 3 cents on Tuesday. This left the mid-week spot market price at $1.75 per pound — up by 10.75 cents from a week earlier.
Bids for two carloads each of Cheddar block and barrel cheese were not filled on Wednesday. Also including one carload sale, the block price ticked up by .50-cent to close at $1.55 per pound while the barrel price remained at $1.4925 per pound.
In the Grade A non-fat dry milk spot market, one carload sale was completed and an offer to sell two carloads was not covered. The price dropped by 2.5 cents per pound to $1.10, which is where it was a week earlier.
Futures prices
A somewhat more volatile Class III milk futures market was in red ink territory for all months of 2015 in late morning trading on Wednesday of this week. Prices had risen late last week but then fell for nearby months early this week, resulting in very little week to week net difference.
Prices on the board on Wednesday included $15.47 per hundred for March, $15.35 for April, and $15.60 for May. They then rose to the $16s and finally the lower half of the $17s per hundred for August through December of 2015. For 2016, the Class III futures were holding in the mid-$16s per hundred.
The Class III milk cash price for February was announced on Thursday of this week. Based on the final futures trades for the month, that price should be very close to $15.50 per hundred.
Dry whey futures were also a bit lower for nearby months on Wednesday. The prices included 49.25 cents per pound for March and 46 cents for April before settling in the low 40s in cents per pound for all subsequent months through 2016.
January milk prices
Wisconsin dairy farmers received an average of $18.40 per hundred for the milk they shipped in January. This was down from the $20.80 average in December and from the $23.80 in January of 2014.
The United States average for the milk price in January was $17.60 per hundred. Among the top milk production states, the January averages ranged from a low of $15.81 per hundred in California to a high of $19.20 in Pennsylvania, which has a state premium on the portion of its milk sold for fluid bottling.
In the past, the National Agricultural Statistics Service reported anticipated monthly average milk prices for the states. Those reports were issued late in that month or very early in the following month.
Starting this year, the agency is publishing data only after the monthly milk payments have been made. The prices reported include premiums for quality, volumes,, or other incentives, do not deduct hauling expenses or consider hauling subsidies provided by the buying processor, and do not include the mandatory or voluntary per hundred promotion deductions.
Drug residue report
The 2014 fiscal year, which ended on Sept. 30, 2014, marked the third consecutive year with a reduction in the number of tested milk samples which were found to be positive for an animal drug residue.
A total of 703 of the milk samples among the more than 3.68 million tested during the year were found to be positive for drug residue. This was down from 731 in fiscal 2013, 828 in fiscal 2012, and significantly from the 5,404 positive samples in nearly 4.566 million tests in in fiscal 1996 and 5,117 in the more than 4.708 million samples tested in fiscal 1997.
Most of the milk samples are taken from bulk tankers while others are obtained directly on dairy farms and from milk plant storage units. Among the 37,707 samples taken from finished dairy products going to the commercial market, there were no positive tests for animal drug residues in fiscal 2014.
Up to 25 methods are used to analyze the samples for those residues. Of the 703 positive tests in the 2014 fiscal year, 684 were attributed to beta lactam drugs. There were 16 positive tests for sulfa drugs, two for tetracyclines, and one for enrofloxacin.
CWT dairy exports
On Monday of this week, Cooperatives Working Together announced the receipt of a total of 11 bids from United Dairymen of Arizona, Tillamook Creamery, Northwest Dairy Association (Darigold), and Dairy Farmers of America for financial assistance on the export of 2.477 million pounds of Cheddar, Gouda, and Monterey Jack cheese and 385,809 pounds of butter.
The shipments are set to go to buyers in the Middle East, the South Pacific, and Asia. Deliveries are scheduled from March to August.
By Ray Mueller
Source: Wisconsin State Farmer