MD_DA230                                                              
DA                                                                    
MD DA230   Fluid Milk and Cream Review - Central                      

MADISON, WI.  February 04, 2016 (REPORT 5)                            

SPOT PRICES OF CLASS II CREAM, $ PER POUND BUTTERFAT                  
F.O.B. producing plants:   Upper Midwest -   $2.5901-2.7218           


South Central milk production is reportedly increasing steadily. Haulers 
reported the daily gains in pickup volumes from some dairy operations is 
surprising, due to the challenges those operations have recently faced. 
Milder temperatures are helping support cow comfort in that area. In the 
North Central region, milk production is also making incremental gains. 
However, the mid-week snowstorm that moved through the area has caused some 
transportation and production problems. A few plants closed ahead of the 
storm, power outages occurred, and some plant operators indicated employees 
were not able to safely get into the plants for their assigned shifts, which 
caused production delays. Fluid demand is unchanged. Bottlers report there 
are few runs of specialty flavors. In the DMN National Retail Report-Dairy 
for the week of January 29-February 4, the national average price for gallons 
of milk was $2.25, $1.15 lower than one year ago. In the Midwest and South 
Central, the current weekly average prices were $1.88 and $2.21, 
respectively. Spot load sales into Class III are steady with some weekend 
loads becoming available later in the week. Prices on spot loads range from 
$2.00 to flat Class. Cream demand from ice cream and frozen mix producers is 
steady at seasonal levels. Some ice cream producers are interested in 
building inventories ahead of strong summer demand. One or two Class II 
plants closed ahead of the winter storm, which delayed some production runs. 
Also, some of the country's major hauling routes were bottled up for several 
hours on Tuesday. However, stranded cream loads eventually reached their 
destinations and delayed production runs were rescheduled for later in the 
week. Multiples for Class II cream are unchanged to lower, 1.18-1.24. End 
users report cream is readily available from many areas of the country. 


1100CT Janet.Linder@ams.usda.gov 608.557.7003
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