By  E. W. Lang

June Class III Milk on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange ended trading today at a contract high level of $18.50 per cwt. May Class III looks like it will end up at $12 plus one or two bits next week. Class III Futures for the rest of this year (July to Dec) are running from $16.35 $17.60 per cwt.

Block cheese gained 20 cents per lb. this week to end up at $2.23 while barrels gained 13 cents to close at $2.02 per lb. I was expecting a modest correction, not 13 and 20 cents more.

May Class IV Milk is $10.78 right now, June is $13.39, and the rest of the year ranges from $14.85 to $15.88 per cwt. There's some promise in the Class IV department, as butter was up six cents per lb. this week to close out at $1.66 per lb., a three month high.

For the next seven months the Milk-Feed Index averages $10.11 per cwt. This isn't enough to make up for the last five years of milk prices, even with any amount of government largesse, but milk producers don't see those kinds of revenue over corn soy feed costs for seven months running very often. Anyone not able to cash flow at $10+ on the M-F Index needs to reevaluate their calling in life.

Top end comfort stall cows at Premier in Withee, Wisconsin, sold from $1250 to $1650 while most slaughter cows were lower at 40 to 47 cents. Hogs were 30 to 35 cents. If we produce more milk than can be processed and sold, it goes into a lagoon and on to land with the manure. If pork producers finish more hogs than can be processed, eventually they are euthanized and buried. Vegetable producers have to face similar prospects from time to time.

It looks like the all-milk price for April was $14.40 and the Dairy Margin Coverage level will be $6.03 per cwt. That's good for almost $3.50 per cwt. for covered production history for farmers enrolled in that particular USDA program. It looks like May's coverage level will be $1 more than that. It could be even more if the C19 charges are a minus on the all-milk price.

The local Farm Service Administration Offices are taking applications for C19 related subsidies on most ag products affected by recent market events. They hope to distribute subsidies next week. Go to https://www.farmers.gov/cfap if you think you may qualify.