MD_DA440                                                         
DA                                                               
MD DA440 BUTTER - WEST 

MADISON, WI.  April 27, 2016 (REPORT 17)

WEST BUTTER

Western butter makers report cream is readily available. However, manufacturers say they 
are not overly eager to take in more cream for butter making. Churning is active with 
available supplies and much of the production focused on making bulk butter. A few 
manufacturers are making print butter to satisfy the decent demand from retail and from 
private label requests. Inventories continue to be steady to building. The DMN National 
Retail Report-Dairy for the week of April 22-28 found that the U.S. weighted average 
advertised price of 1 pound butter is $3.31, up $.32 from last week. The U.S. weighted 
average price was $2.86 one year ago. In the Southwest, the weighted average advertised 
price of 1 pound butter is $2.29, with a range of $1.50-$2.50. In the Northwest, the 
weighted average advertised price of 1 pound butter is $3.10, with a range of $2.50-
$3.49. The NASS Cold Storage report noted U.S. butter stocks as of March 31, 2016, were 
243.6 million pounds, up 3% from last month. Butter stocks in all warehouses were 184.4 
million pounds last year at this time. Bulk butter pricing in the West this week is 3 
cents under market to 2 cents above, based on the CME Group with various time frames and 
averages used. The Grade AA butter price at the CME Group on Wednesday closed at $2.0400, 
unchanged from a week ago.


15300CT Mike.Bandli@ams.usda.gov 608.557.7010
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/mnp/da-home