Market Reports

Despite some moderation during Friday’s spot session, gains earlier in the week left prices higher than last Friday for both butter and nonfat dry milk (NDM), pushing Class IV milk values upward.

Hot weather weighed on U.S. milk yields and slowed milk powder output in August. As the impacts of the summer heat wave fade and bottlers settle into the school milk routine, there is more milk available for processing.

The bulls were put out to pasture this summer, grazing in paddocks far from LaSalle Street. But fall is here, and they are back home enjoying a high energy ration, pushing several markets to their highest price in months.

Soaring temperatures in much of the country and unusually humid conditions in the Southwest added up to a lot of stress. National average milk yields fell short of year-ago levels, an exceptionally rare occurrence.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. just suffered its hottest summer ever. Soaring temperatures weighed on milk yields and tightened supplies as heat stress accumulated late in the summer and into September.

The Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction kicked things off with bang and all products gained significant ground. Cheesemakers are running at their usual pace, as long as they can find the staff to do so and demand remains healthy.