The cheese markets soared. CME spot Cheddar blocks leapt 11.25ȼ to $1.93 per pound, their highest price since January. Barrels followed hot on their tail, climbing 11ȼ to $1.88. The widely anticipated increase in U.S. cheese output is underway, but the ramp up has been slower than expected. Cheese buyers who were waiting for heavy supplies and lower prices to lock in their summer needs are now scrambling to get their hands on some product. USDA’s Dairy Market News notes that

The bulls feasted this week on news of booming U.S. dairy exports and signs that American dairy remains attractive to foreign buyers. Tuesday’s Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction served as an appetizer. Buyers bid up nearly all products. Compared to the late-April auction, whole milk powder prices climbed 6.2% while Cheddar jumped 12%. Both products notched three-year highs. Not to be outdone, butter rallied 3.8% to its highest-ever price at the GDT. And lactose values leapt 16

Ailing domestic consumption and dimming export prospects have weighed on dairy commodity values, and in turn, milk prices. The April Class III price was announced this week at $17.48/cwt. while Class IV came in at $17.92/cwt., representing the first time since October 2021 that both prices were below $18. Modest relief may be on the way as futures markets currently predict that both Class III and Class IV values will improve slightly later in the year. 

Every week, U.S. dairy producers send about 10,000 fewer milk cows to beef packers than they used to. That’s slowly adding up to more cows in the barn. Even so, dairy cow head counts are not as high as previously thought. After its quarterly survey, USDA trimmed its estimates of January and February milk cow inventories. The agency pegged the herd at...

The cheese markets moved from strength to strength after the early-spring selloff energized exports. U.S. cheese is the cheapest in the world, and shipments to key markets – including Mexico and South Korea – remained formidable through February. USDA’s Dairy Market News reports that, more recently, export orders have been stronger than expected, as Mexican buyers have not been deterred by trade war uncertainty. American exporters are hustling to move cheese abroad, which has