Dairy markets were mostly lower on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange on Tuesday. Cash cheese barrels gave-back more than what they gained on Monday while blocks held steady in a session that saw 16 loads sold. Butter increased a penny on one unfilled bid. Class III futures slipped with the June contract losing 20 cents, July down 12 cents and August slipping 8 cents.
Pressure on the markets from the Global Dairy Trade auction on Tuesday which saw the overall index decline for the fourth consecutive session. The index has lost 335 points since March and is now the lowest it has been since April of 2009.
Total cheese production in the United States in March was 987 million pounds up 1.8 percent from March of 2014. Butter production was down 3 percent from a year ago at 162 million pounds.