Al6-Uncaster Farming, Saturday, March 11, 2000 GRAIN. CATTLE, HOG, &MILKBPP FUTURES MARKETS Markets Courtesy of Chicago Board and Mercantile Exchange Closing Bids: Thursday, March 9,2000 Com Daily Prices As of Symbol:C 03/09/00 03/09/00 03/09/00 03/09/00 03/09/00 03/09/00 03/09/00 03/09/00 03/09/00 03/09/00 03/09/00 03/09/00 Total 03/08/00 Soybeans Daily Prices As ofThursday, 9 March Symbol:S 03/09/00 03/09 'OO 03/09/00 03/09/00 03/09/00 03/09/00 03/09/00 03/09/00 03/09/00 03/09/00 03/09/00 Total 03/08/00 Oats Daily Prices As of Symbol:o 03/09/00 MAR 00 03/09/00 MAY 00 03/09/00 JUL 00 03/09/00 SEP 00 03/09/00 DEC 00 03/09/00 MAR 01 Total 03/08/00 Weekly Dairy Market Outlook By Ken Bailey Penn State University March 3,2000 -Government Buys Cheese 396,000 lbs process cheese entered the CCC -Cheese production seasonally heavy -1999 disappearance up 3.1 percent -USDA announces round II of the Dairy Options Pilot Program The market received mixed information this week. On the one hand, process cheese entered the dairy price support program for the first time since July 1997 and cheese production is seasonally heavy. On the other hand. Grade AA butter prices were relatively strong ($0 97- $0 98 per pound) this week, and block cheese prices gained a penny a pound to $1.12. Also, USDA reported this week that demand for milk and dairy products m 1999 was relatively strong January milk production in 2000 was up 4.7 percent in 20 major dairy states. Not - Thursday, 9 March Volume Open_lnt 64559 452359 Volume Open_lnt 49265 164475 - Thursday, 9 March High 1134 1186 1170 1186 1260 1314 Open 1134 1184 1170 1186 1256 Volume Open_lnt 638 17749 surprisingly, so also was dairy product production. American type cheese production in January was 312.7 million pounds, up 7.9 percent from a year ago. Mozzarella cheese production was 214.5 million pounds, up 5.3 percent. And, total cheese production was 680.3 million pounds, up 6.5 percent. Butter production was 140.6 million pounds, up 14.0 percent. These are very strong rates of gain. Remember, these are estimates for January numbers; they will be revised next month when the real January numbers are released. According to USDA, process cheese entered the dairy price support program for the first time since July 1997. For the week February 28- - March 31, the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) had net purchases of 15.0 million pounds of nonfortified nonfat dry milk from the West and Midwest, and 396,000 pounds of process cheese from the Midwest. commercial Under this program, the CCC stands ready to purchase unlimited quantities of dairy Last Chge 2204 t l2 2272 +lO 2356 +l2 2432 +l6 2490 +l4 2522 +2O 2550 +l4 2602 +2O 2650 +2O 2686 +2O 2652 +2O 2636 +6 Chge unch -2 -2 unch + 2 unch Last 1124 1174 1154 1184 1254 1314 Low 1124 1170 1152 1184 1254 1314 Lean Hogs Daily Prices As of Date 03/09/00 03/09/00 03/09/00 03/09/00 03/09/00 03/09/00 03/09/00 03/09/00 03/09/00 Composite Volume 03/08/00 11905 Live Cattle Daily Prices As ofThursday, 9 March Date 03/09/00 03/09/00 03/09/00 03/09/00 03/09/00 03/09/00 03/09/00 Composite Volume 03/08/00 30936 Lumber Daily Prices As ofThursday, 9 March Date 03/09/00 03/09/00 03/09/00 03/09/00 03/09/00 03/09/00 Composite Volume Open_lnt 03/08/00 693 2626 able 1. Chicago Mercantile Exchange Prices, Weekly Averages Cheese: 500 lb. barrels 40-lb. blocks Nonfat dry milk; Extra Grade Grade A Butter: Grade AA 0.9733 Source: Dairy Market News, AMS. USDA (http://www. ams. usda.gov/dairy/mncsAveekly. htm). Table 2. NASS Weekly U.S. Average Survey Prices Cheese 500 lb. Barrels 1/ 1.0799 40-lb. blocks 1.0963 Butter 0.8926 Nonfat dry milk 1.0088 Dry whey 0.1751 Source: Dairy Product Prices, NASS, USDA (http://usda. mannlib. Cornell, edu/reports/nassr/price/dairy/1999/). 1/ Adjusted to 39% moisture. products at CCC purchase prices. These prices are linked to the manufacturing support price for milk at $9.80 per cwt at 3.5 percent milkfat. Currently, the CCC purchase prices are $0.65 per pound for bulk butter, $0.68 per pound for no. 1 print butter, $l.lO per pound for 40- and 60- pound block cheese, $1.07 per pound for 500-pound barrel cheese, $1.1525 per pound for no. 5 process American cheese, $1.1925 per pound for no. 2 process American cheese, and Thursday, 9 March Open High 5950 6090 6880 7000 6660 6745 6425 6490 5780 5810 5560 5600 5630 5650 5560 5600 0 6295 Apr 00 Jun 00 JulOO Aug 00 Oct 00 Dec 00 Feb 01 Apr 01 Jun 01 Openjnt 52358 Open High 7250 7275 6935 6942 6990 6997 7267 7267 7370 7377 7490 7500 7690 7710 Apr 00 Jun 00 Aug 00 Oct 00 Dec 00 Feb 01 Apr 01 Openjnt 120344 Open High Low Mar 00 May 00 JulOO Sep 00 Nov 00 Jan 01 33230 34280 34380 33780 33150 33500 32880 33580 33900 33660 32990 3-Mar-00 25-Feb-00 18-Feb-00 1 1020 1.1000 1.0960 1-1160 1.1063 1.1080 1.0300 1.0300 1.0300 1.0300 1.0300 1.0300 26-Feb-00 19-Feb-OO 12-Feb-00 $l.Ol per pound for nonfortified, $1.02 per pound for fortified, and $1.1675 for instant nonfat dry milk USDA reported commercial disappearance for milk and dairy products for 1999. This represents a proxy for demand. The numbers are revealing in that they suggest a favorable demand picture. Milk production in 1999 grew 3.3 percent and imports grew 3.4 percent. = Chge Last Low + 130 + 103 +35 +3B -15 -13 -5 -5 -20 Chge Last Low +23 + 10 +2 +2 -3 7255 6932 6982 7257 7367 7485 7705 7220 6895 6965 7237 7355 7477 7690 +5 + 10 Chge Last 32510 33570 33890 33570 32940 33500 32620 33990 34360 33750 33150 33500 -230 +320 +370 + 150 + 170 unch 0.9363 0.8933 1.0758 1.1036 0.8810 1.0117 0.1783 Beginning commercial stocks for January 1, 1999 were up 7.9 percent over a= year ago. Consumption for the year grew 3.1 percent on a butterfat basis (this includes commercial export sales). Ending commercial stocks were up 16.4 percent by December 31, 1999. Consumption for individual dairy products was mostly favorable: butter up 4.8 percent, American cheese up 7.4 percent, other Prev. Prev. Opcn_lnt 20475 17119 5497 5205 2522 1269 214 48 Volume 5384 5039 719 442 152 162 Prev. Open_lnt 48335 33946 19362 10323 4467 2782 1129 Prev. Volume 18606 6450 4005 799 292 186 598 Prev. Prev. Open_lnt 648 1404 438 108 28 Volume 248 380 56 11-Feb-00 1.0800 1.1100 1.0300 1.0300 0.9050 5-Feb-00 1.0769 1.1013 0.9119 1.0101 0.1806 1.0842 1.1106 0.9096 1.0112 0.1809 (Turn to Page A3l)