MD_DA431
DA
MD DA431 BUTTER - CENTRAL 

MADISON, WI. July 6, 2016 (Report 27)

Butter production in the Midwest varies this week. Several 
manufacturers chose to capitalize on more readily available cream over 
the holiday weekend and kept their churns running full schedules 
through the weekend. A few producers running full schedules report the 
desire to slow production some, but are not in the position to do so 
based on current cream volume intakes. Butter manufacturers are taking 
into consideration what they anticipate to be a strong decrease in 
cream availability in the upcoming weeks when planning their churn 
production schedules. Sales are steady this week. Manufacturers and 
brokers report consistent calls from buyers looking to make purchases. 
However, they express light interest in moving butter in the current 
market. Many inventories in the Central region are reportedly already 
spoken for. Those with inventories not currently committed are 
confident in their ability to move butter in the upcoming months. 
Demand for fresh bulk butter is high, but supply is tight and offers 
from sellers are rare. Bulk butter prices reported ranged from market 
to 10 cents over the market, with various time frames and averages 
used. The market undertone is firm. This week, a cooperative export 
assistance program accepted requests for 352,740 pounds of butter. So 
far this year, the program has accepted assistance requests for 5.351 
million pounds of butter. The DMN National Retail Report-Dairy for 
July 1-7 noted the national weighted average advertised price for a 1 
pound package of butter was $3.38, $0.36 above one week ago, and $0.34 
above one year ago. Prices in the Midwest region for 1 pound packages 
of butter range from $1.50-$3.00 with a weighted average price of 
$2.70. The weighted average price in the South Central region is $2.62 
with a price range of $2.49-$3.00. The CME Group monthly average price 
for Grade AA butter during June was $2.2640, compared to $1.9065 a 
year ago. Wednesday at the CME Group, Grade AA butter closed at 
$2.2825, down $.0475 from last Wednesday. The NASS Dairy Products 
report noted May U.S. butter production totaled 169.9 million pounds, 
up 0.3 percent from a year ago. The Central region accounted for 41.9 
percent (71.2 million pounds) of U.S. production in May. This 
production is 10.6 percent higher than one year ago. January-May 
cumulative U.S. butter production totals 878.5 million pounds, 5.6 
percent ahead of 2015 during the same time span. 

1530CT Amy.L.Schmitz@ams.usda.gov 608.557.7004
USDA/AMS/Dairy Market News, Madison, Wisconsin
Dairy Market News website: http://www.ams.usda.gov/market-news/dairy
Dairy Market News database portal: http://www. 
marketnews.usda.gov/map/da-home