The Agriculture Department announced the September Federal order benchmark Class III milk price this afternoon at a record high $24.60 per hundredweight (cwt.), up $2.35 from August, $6.46 above September 2013, $2.21 above the comparable California 4b price, and equates to about $2.12 per gallon.
That propels the 2014 Class III average to $22.72, up from $17.76 at this time a year ago, $16.54 in 2012, and $18.28 in 2011. That’s the good news. Class III futures portend declines ahead. The October Class III contract settled this afternoon at $23.98; November, $21.12; and December, $19.71.
The September Class IV price is $22.58, down $1.31 from August but $3.15 above a year ago. The nine month Class IV average now stands at $23.20, up from $18.49 a year ago, $15.23 in 2012, and $19.48 in 2011.
The NDSPR-surveyed cheese price used to calculate this month’s milk prices averaged $2.3472 per pound, up 24 cents from August. Butter averaged $2.8525, up 33.2 cents. Nonfat dry milk averaged $1.4718, down 31.7 cents, and dry whey averaged 67.25 cents, down 1.6 cents.
Source: DairyBusiness Update
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