Posted: August 22, 2008 at 2:16 pm
By Chuck Zimmerman
Dairy Markets Week in Review
The cash cheese roller coaster started the week heading down but rallied a little bit with 40-pound block closing Friday at $1.7125 per pound, down 4 3/4-cents on the week and 26 cents below that week a year ago. Barrel closed at $1.6625, down 7 1/2-cents on the week, and 27cents below a year ago. 42 cars of block traded hands and 17 of barrel. The NASS-surveyed U.S. average block price hit $1.9011, down 6.2 cents. Barrel averaged $1.7937, down 9.2 cents.
Cash butter saw a 3 1/2-cent loss on the week, closing Friday at $1.61, but still 18 3/4-cents above a year ago. Nine cars were sold. NASS butter averaged $1.5915, up 3.4 cents. NASS nonfat dry milk averaged $1.3621, down 3.6 cents, and dry whey averaged 24.60 cents, down 0.5 cent
Posted: August 15, 2008 at 11:59 am
By Chuck Zimmerman
Dairy Markets Week in Review
The cheese price roller coaster is just that, a roller coaster. The August 8th rally appeared to continue Monday, with blocks gaining a penny following Friday’s 6 1/4-cent gain. Barrel jumped 3 cents, following a nickel gain the previous Thursday and Friday, but prices suffered a relapse from there and block closed Friday, August 15th at $1.76 per pound, down three quarter cents on the week, and 20 cents below a year ago.
Barrel closed at $1.70, down 2 cents on the week, and 19 cents below a year ago. Twenty seven cars of block traded hands on the week and 12 of barrel. The NASS-surveyed U.S. average block price hit $1.9627, down 0.6 cent. Barrel averaged $1.8853, down 6.6 cents.
Butter closed Friday at $1.6450, down a half-cent on the week but 26 1/2-cents above a year ago when it lost a dime. Thirty seven cars were sold this week. NASS butter averaged $1.5576, up 4.4 cents. Nonfat dry milk averaged $1.3953, down 0.2 cent, and dry whey averaged 25.13 cents, down 0.7 cent.
Posted: August 8, 2008 at 3:40 pm
By Chuck Zimmerman
Dairy Markets Week in Review
Cheese price hemorrhaging continued early in the week of August 4 but a tourniquet was finally applied as the buyers stepped up to the plate. The blocks fell to $1.7050 on Thursday but rallied Friday, regaining 6 1/4-cents, and closed at $1.7675 per pound, down 6 3/4-cents on the week, and 17 1/4 below a year ago. The blocks lost 23 1/4-cents the previous week. Barrel closed Friday at $1.72, down 8 cents on the week, and 18 cents below a year ago. Thirty six cars of block traded hands on the week and 42 of barrel. The NASS U.S. average block price hit $1.9683, up 4.1 cents. Barrel averaged $1.9517 up 2.3 cents.
Butter did the opposite, jumping to $1.67 on Tuesday, but gave back 2 cents on Friday and closed at $1.65, up 7 1/2-cents on the week and 17 cents above a year ago. Thirty five cars were sold. NASS butter averaged $1.5138, down 0.5 cent. NASS nonfat dry milk averaged $1.3956, down 1.6 cents, and dry whey averaged 25.81 cents, down 0.5 cent.
Posted: August 1, 2008 at 12:30 pm
By Chuck Zimmerman
Dairy Markets Week in Review
Cheese prices plunged after starting the week on a positive note. Block lost 11 1/4-cents on Wednesday and 13 1/4-cents on Thursday. Barrel saw a record single-day loss on Wednesday of 28 cents, though it rebounded 15 cents on Thursday.
When the dust settled Friday, block closed at $1.8350 per pound, down 23 1/4-cents on the week and 6 3/4-cents below that week a year ago. Barrel closed at $1.80, down 17 cents on the week and 6 1/4-cents below a year ago. Twenty seven cars of block traded hands on the week and 28 of barrel. The NASS U.S. average block price hit $1.9274, up 0.6 cent, and barrel averaged $1.9286, up 0.3 cent.
Cash butter closed Friday at $1.5750, up 3 1/2-cents on the week, and 7 1/4-cents above a year ago. Nothing was sold all week. NASS butter averaged $1.5189, up 0.7 cent. NASS nonfat dry milk averaged $1.4153, up 0.5 cent, and dry whey averaged 26.35 cents, up 0.6 cent.
Cash Grade A nonfat dry milk closed Friday at $1.44, down a penny and a quarter, and Extra Grade closed at $1.44, unchanged on the week.
The 2002 and 2008 Farm Bills amended the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 to require retailers to notify their customers of the country of origin of covered commodities. Those commodities include:
Muscle cuts of beef, including veal.
Lamb
Chicken
Goat
Pork
Ground beef
Ground lamb
Ground chicken
Ground goat
Ground pork
Wild and farm-raised fish and shellfish
Perishable ag commodities
Macadamia nuts
Pecans
Ginseng
Peanuts
Posted: July 25, 2008 at 2:27 pm
By Chuck Zimmerman
Dairy Markets Week in Review
Block cheese closed the week at $2.0675 per pound, up 6 3/4-cents and 22 1/4-cents above a year ago when the blocks lost 11 1/2-cents and were trading at $1.8450. The Daily Dairy Report credited strong export demand for block cheese but says exports for barrel are non-existent.
Barrel, after losing 6 1/2-cents early in the week, gained it all back and closed Friday at $1.97, unchanged on the week, 14 cents above a year ago, and almost a dime below the blocks. Seven cars of block were sold this week and 12 of barrel. The NASS-surveyed U.S. average block price hit $1.9218, down 2.9 cents. Barrel averaged $1.9313, down 0.3 cent.
Butter closed at $1.54, up a penny on the week, and 2 cents above a year ago. Only three cars traded hands. NASS butter averaged $1.5127, down 2.8 cents. Nonfat dry milk averaged $1.4099, up 1.3 cents. Dry whey averaged 25.83 cents, down 0.9 cent.
Posted: July 18, 2008 at 1:43 pm
By Chuck Zimmerman
Dairy Markets Week in Review
The cash cheese market strengthened this week as it awaited Friday afternoon’s June Milk Production report. Forty pound block closed at $2.00 per pound, up 6 3/4-cents on the week and 15 1/2-cents above a year ago, when the blocks tumbled 11 1/2-cents, to $1.8450.
500-pound barrel closed Friday at $1.97, up a nickel on the week and 13 cents above a year ago, when the barrels lost a dime. No block traded hands this week but three cars of barrel were sold. The NASS-surveyed U.S. average block price fell to $1.9512, down 4.3 cents. Barrel averaged $1.9346, down a nickel.
Butter fell to $1.53, down 2 cents on the week, but a penny above a year ago. Four cars were sold on the week. NASS butter averaged $1.5406, up 3.2 cents. NASS nonfat dry milk averaged $1.3957, down slightly, and dry whey averaged 26.67 cents, down 0.6 cent.
Posted: July 11, 2008 at 12:53 pm
By Chuck Zimmerman
Dairy Markets Week in Review
Cash cheese prices reversed gears the first full week of July, National Ice Cream month. Cheese started the week with some losses but reversed direction. The cash block price closed Friday at $1.9325 per pound, up a penny on the week but 2 3/4-cents below that week a year ago. Barrel finished at $1.92, up 4 1/2-cents on the week but a penny below a year ago. Twenty nine cars of block traded hands on the week and 34 of barrel. The NASS-surveyed U.S. average block price fell 7 cents, to $1.9945. Barrel averaged $1.9849, down 10.5 cents.
Butter closed the week at $1.55, down a quarter-cent, but 6 cents above a year ago. Seven cars traded hands on the week. NASS-surveyed butter averaged $1.5083, up 3.6 cents. NASS Nonfat dry milk averaged $1.3955, up 3.3 cents, and dry whey averaged 2.26 cents, up 0.3 cent.
Posted: July 5, 2008 at 4:50 pm
By Chuck Zimmerman
Dairy Markets Week in Review
The cash cheese market continues to weaken. The block price closed the 4th of July holiday shortened week at $1.9225 per pound, up a quarter-cent on the week but 4 1/4-cents below a year ago. Barrel closed at $1.8750, down 8 1/2-cents on the week and a nickel below a year ago. Fifteen cars of block traded hands on the week and three of barrel. The NASS U.S. average block price fell to $2.0648, down 8.7 cents. Barrel averaged $2.0895, also down 8.7 cents.
Cash butter remains strong with ice cream manufacturers bidding cream away from the churn. The CME cash price closed Thursday at $1.5525, up three-quarters of a cent on the week and 8 3/4-cents above a year ago. Seven cars traded hands on the week. NASS butter averaged $1.4724, up 0.3 cent. NASS nonfat dry milk averaged $1.3610, up slightly, and dry whey averaged 27.58 cents, down 0.1 cent.
Posted: June 27, 2008 at 2:41 pm
By Chuck Zimmerman
Dairy Markets Week in Review
Block cheese closed the last full week of June Dairy Month at $1.92 per pound, down 4 cents, and 2 cents below that week a year ago. Barrel closed Friday at $1.96, up a penny on the week, and 5 cents above a year ago. Thirteen cars of block traded hands on the week and two of barrel. The NASS-surveyed U.S. average block price hit $2.1519, down 6.1 cents. Barrel averaged $1.1765, down a nickel.
Cash butter, which saw twelve consecutive sessions of gain, closed Friday at $1.5450, up 4 1/4-cents on the week and 6 cents above a year ago. Eight cars traded hands on the week. NASS butter averaged $1.4690, up 1.6 cents. NASS nonfat dry milk averaged $1.3610, up 2.9 cents, and dry whey averaged 27.69 cents, down 0.1 cent.
Market analyst, Alan Levitt said in Tuesday’s DairyLine that, over the last year the cheese price had six runs over $2.00 per pound but backed off once demand started to slow. In the five previous run ups, the block price fell to the $1.80s or lower, he said, so he expects that to happen this time as well.
Posted: June 20, 2008 at 12:09 pm
By Chuck Zimmerman
Dairy Markets Week in Review
Checking the CME cash dairy markets; cheese saw its fourth consecutive week of loss. Block closed Friday at $1.96 per pound, down 8 cents on the week and 14 cents below a year ago. Barrel closed Friday at $1.95, down 20 cents on the week and 9 3/4-cents below a year ago. Ten cars of block traded hands on the week and seven of barrel. The lagging NASS-surveyed U.S. average block price hit $2.2129, up a nickel. Barrel averaged $2.2265, up 1.1 cent.
Cash butter gained 2 1/2-cents on the week, closing Friday at $1.5025, 1 1/4 cents above a year ago. Only three cars traded hands on the week. NASS butter averaged $1.4531, down 2.1 cents. NASS nonfat dry milk averaged $1.3305, down 3.1 cents, and dry whey averaged 27.81 cents, up 0.1 cent.
Cash Grade A nonfat dry milk closed Friday at $1.45 per pound, down a half-cent on the week. Four cars traded hands on the week. Extra Grade also closed Friday at $1.45, down a penny on the week.
A new cheese plant is being planned for Greeley, Colo. Leprino Foods, the nation’s biggest maker of mozzarella cheese made the announcement last week.
Greeley’s former Western Sugar Cooperative site has been in the running for the site of Leprino’s 10th plant for several months, and the City Council in January approved a special taxing district for the location. Privately held Leprino is headquartered in Denver and has one other facility in Colorado, a cheesemaking plant in Fort Morgan.
Posted: June 16, 2008 at 12:25 pm
By Chuck Zimmerman
Here’s the latest announcement from Cooperatives Working Together:
Cooperatives Working Together announced today that it accepted three export assistance bids last week for the sale of cheese and anhydrous milkfat.
All three bids were from Dairy Farmers of America of Kansas City, MO: one for the export of 209 metric tons (459,800 pounds) of Cheddar cheese to Japan; a second for 150 metric tons (330,000 lbs.) of anhydrous milkfat to Mexico; and a third for 60 metric tons (132,000 lbs.) of anhydrous milkfat to Russia.
CWT will pay an export bonus to the bidder, only when delivery of the product is verified by the submission of the required documentation.
With these accepted bids, CWT’s total 2008 export obligations are: whole milk powder, 170 metric tons (374,000 lbs.); butter, 291.2 metric tons (641,805 pounds); cheese, 209 metric tons (459,800 pounds); and anhydrous Milkfat, 210 metric tons (462,000).
Dairy Markets Week in Review
The cash block cheese market continued to weaken the second week of June and closed Friday at $2.04 per pound, down 12 cents on the week, and just 4 cents above a year ago. Barrel closed at $2.15, unchanged on the week, 10 cents above a year ago, and 11 cents above the blocks.
Sixteen cars of block traded hands on the week and none of barrel. The NASS-surveyed U.S. block average hit $2.1630, up 9.1 cents, while barrel averaged $2.2152, up 7.8 cents.
Butter closed at $1.4775, down a quarter-cent, and a quarter-cent below a year ago. Four cars sold. NASS butter averaged $1.4741, down 0.2 cent.
Nonfat dry milk averaged $1.3613, up 2.3 cents. Dry whey averaged 27.61 cents, up a half-cent. There were a couple of sales of nonfat dry milk in the cash market this week but prices were unchanged. Grade A held at $1.4650 and Extra Grade at $1.46.
Posted: June 6, 2008 at 11:54 am
By Chuck Zimmerman
Dairy Markets Week in Review
The cash block cheese price lost another 7 cents this week, closing Friday at $2.16 per pound, still 18 3/4-cents above that week a year ago. Barrel closed at $2.15, down a nickel on the week but 22 cents above a year ago. Six cars of block traded hands on the week and four of barrel. The NASS-surveyed U.S. average block price finally topped two dollars, hitting $2.0719, up 8 cents. Barrel averaged $2.1371, up 11 cents.
Butter closed Friday at $1.48, unchanged on the week, but 2 1/4-cents below a year ago. Twenty six cars were sold. NASS butter averaged $1.4748, up a penny. NASS nonfat dry milk averaged $1.3389, up 2.5 cents. Dry whey averaged 27.09 cents, down 0.6 cent.
Cash Grade “A” nonfat dry milk gained a penny and a half on the week and closed at $1.4650. Extra Grade closed at $1.46, up a penny. Two cars were sold.
Cooperatives Working Together has announced the fifth round of herd retirements. Starting June 3, bids will be accepted through June 30. New to this round of bidding is the option for producers to include all their bred heifers, for a flat fee of $1,050 per animal; and the exclusion of regional safeguard limits.
“All of the economic indicators and benchmarks that guide CWT’s decisions, including farmers’ cost of production, show that now is the appropriate time for us to initiate this herd retirement,” said Jerry Kozak, President and CEO of NMPF, which manages CWT. “In particular, significantly higher feed and energy costs have put dairy farmers between a financial rock and a hard place.”
All dairy producers submitting bids to sell their herds must be members of CWT as of January 2008, either through their membership in a fully participating cooperative, or as an independent member of CWT. Bids will be reviewed in early July, with field auditors then proceeding after mid-July to visit each accepted farm to begin the cow removal process.
Through the herd retirement program, if a farmer’s bid is accepted, CWT pays that farmer for the volume of milk produced by that herd in a 12 month period. The farmer is responsible for selling the cows for slaughter, and he or she retains the proceeds from that transaction. As in the past, any producer who had his bid accepted in any of the previous herd retirements is not eligible to participate again.
Listen to Kozak’s opening statement from a Tuesday press conference here:
Posted: May 30, 2008 at 2:12 pm
By Chuck Zimmerman
Dairy Markets Week in Review
Cash dairy prices were the center of attention in the shortened Memorial Day week as the industry awaited the arrival of June Dairy Month and the burst in the cheese price bubble which came Thursday.
Blocks fell 7 1/2-cents, ending almost 14 consecutive gains, but recovered 2 cents on Friday, to close at $2.23 per pound, down 5 1/2-cents on the week but 34 3/4-cents above a year ago. Barrel closed at $2.20, down a nickel on the week but 29 cents above a year ago. Four cars of block traded hands on the week and five of barrel. The NASS U.S. average block price hit $1.9925, up 3.6 cents. Barrel averaged $2.0167, up a nickel.
The CME’s Daily Dairy Report points out that Oceania Cheddar is selling at $2.18-$2.36 per pound and that U.S. Cheddar has been selling below Oceania levels since August, helping fuel U.S. cheese exports.
Cash butter closed Friday at $1.48, down a penny on the week and 6 1/2-cents below a year ago. Fourteen cars traded hands on the week. NASS butter averaged $1.4646, up 3.1 cents. NASS nonfat dry milk averaged $1.3144, up 2 cents, and dry whey averaged 27.69 cents, up 0.4 cent.
Posted: May 23, 2008 at 2:02 pm
By Chuck Zimmerman
Dairy Markets Week in Review
The block cheese price hit a record high $2.2850 per pound on Friday the highest it’s been since November 2007, up 20 1/2-cents on the week and 48 1/4-cents above that week a year ago.
Barrel closed at $2.25, up 22 cents on the week and 45 cents above a year ago. Only three cars of block traded hands and 22 of barrel. The NASS U.S. average block price hit $1.9567, up 2.9 cents. Barrel averaged $1.9665, up 5.9 cents.
Cash butter took a breather following four weeks of gains and closed Friday at $1.49, down a penny on the week and 2 cents below a year ago. Fifteen cars were sold on the week. NASS butter averaged $1.4341, up 2.2 cents.
Both cash Grade A and Extra Grade nonfat dry milk closed Friday at $1.45 per pound, up 3 cents on the week. NASS powder averaged $1.2944, down 1 1/2-cents. Dry whey averaged 27.33 cents, up a penny.
The USDA has proposed to ban all downer cattle from slaughterhouses in the country, a policy that could take effect before the summer’s end. The move by Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer is an effort to boost public confidence in the safety of the nation’s food supply.
The proposal, which could take effect within a few months, follows the largest beef recall in U.S. history earlier this year, which was the result of secretly recorded videotape that showed California meat plant workers using forklifts and electric prods on animals unable to stand in an effort to get them to the slaughterhouse.
“There should be no longer even a slim possibility of transporting a cow to market that is too weak to rise or to walk on its own,” Schafer told reporters. “This action sends a clear message to consumers in both domestic and in international markets that we will continue to uphold the highest standards to protect our food supply and deliver the highest-quality products.”
Schafer also said that “by reducing the incentive to send weak and marginal cattle to slaughter, it will reduce the likelihood that those animals will be subjected to inhumane handling at processing plants.”
The meat industry, long opposed to a total ban, announced in April that it had asked the USDA to enact one, in part to help pry open foreign markets to U.S. beef.
“We appreciate the department’s prompt response and timely action,” said J. Patrick Boyle, president of the American Meat Institute.
Schafer, who previously had said that a total ban was unnecessary, likened his change of heart to a business decision. Enacting a complete ban would boost consumer confidence while having little effect on slaughterhouses, he said. Of the 34 million cows slaughtered in 2007, fewer than 1,000 could not stand but were admitted to the slaughterhouse after a second inspection.
“This is not a food safety issue. It never has been,” he said. “There has been some confusion here in the consumers’ mind, in the media’s mind. . . . We are trying to eliminate any confusion.”
Posted: May 16, 2008 at 11:50 am
By Chuck Zimmerman
Dairy Markets Week in Review
Block cheese topped $2.00 for the sixth time in a year and closed Friday $2.08 per pound, up 8 1/4-cents on the week, 37 cents above that week a year ago, and the highest it’s been since late February. Barrel closed at $2.03, up a nickel on the week and 34 cents above a year ago. Three cars of each traded hands on the week. The lagging NASS-surveyed U.S. average block price hit $1.9281, up 3.3 cents. Barrel averaged $1.9077, up 5.3 cents.
Butter, following 21 consecutive trading sessions of gain, closed Friday at $1.50, up 3 cents on the week and three-quarter cents above a year ago. Only three cars traded hands. NASS-butter averaged $1.4123, up 4.3 cents. Nonfat dry milk averaged $1.3094, up 3.3 cents and dry whey averaged 26.38 cents, up 0.3 cent.
Dairy Markets Week in Review
Here’s the latest announcement from 