Higher prices across the board on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange dairy markets on Wednesday.  Cheddar cheese barrels increased 1.75 cents, blocks up 1.25 cents, butter increased 1.25 cents and nonfat dry milk gained a quarter cent.  A busy day with 16 loads of cheese, 13 loads of nonfat dry milk and three loads of butter sold.

Cheese sales continue to be strong even though plants are running at full capacity.  Dairy Market News says manufacturers are not afraid to hold out for better prices if buyers aren’t willing to pay the price.  Full production schedules are the most profitable way to run a cheese factory.  No doubt there will be extra milk available over the holiday weekend with some offered for as much as $5 below class…but not many plants will be able to handle any extra milk.  The one exception is in the West where the heat has pushed milk intakes and components down.

Despite a decline in cash cheese and Class III futures, the base price for Class III milk in June is up 53 cents from April to $16.72 per hundredweight.  This is the highest Class III price of the year.  Class II base slipped 4 cents to $14.77 and Class IV lost a penny to $13.90.

Component prices by the pound: butterfat $2.1011; protein $2.6915; nonfat solids $0.7529; other solids $0.2322.  These are also the highest butterfat and protein prices of the year.

Compared to June of 2014, the Class III base is down $4.64, Class II is $9.17 lower and Class IV is $9.23 per hundredweight below a year ago.