The financial plight of California’s dairy farmers received some national attention in an Associated Press column in the Sept. 29 Washington Post. A recent rally on the issue in Sacramento, Calif., drew several hundred people, according to the Sept. 28 Milk Producers Council (MPC) newsletter.

Participants called on Gov. Jerry Brown and secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, Karen Ross, to, as the MPC stated, “Utilize their authority and legal responsibility to bring our milk prices in better alignment with the prices being paid for milk throughout the country.”

MPC reported that organizers continue to strategize and are planning another rally in Sacramento on October 18th and a pre-rally prep session on October 4th in Tulare). Details are posted at www.rallyforcaliforniadairyrelief.com

Finally, the Alliance’s Bill VanDam continued his focus on U.S. ethanol mandates in his last newsletter and reports that “Dairymen, pork producers, beef producers and poultry operations are under huge stress.” He charged that “The only thing that does not change is the ethanol mandates which are nothing but an arbitrary number put into a bill by Congress. Congress by definition has the power to change the mandates. Can it really be true that we are not smart enough to stop converting our corn into ethanol when it is needed to feed America?”

IDFA’s SmartBrief, citing a story from the Huffington Post, reports that Americans’ favorite ice cream chain is Ben & Jerry’s, followed by Cold Stone Creamery and Culver’s, according to a new survey by Market Force Information.
 

Ben & Jerry’s took top place in the Midwest, Baskin-Robbins was the favorite in the Northeast, and Culver’s was top ice cream chain in the South and West.

Farm gate milk prices continue to rise. The USDA announced the September Federal order Class III price at $19 per cwt., up $1.27 from August, 7 cents below September 2011, $1.50 above California’s comparable 4b cheese milk price, and equates to about $1.63 per gallon. The September Class IV price is $17.41, up $1.65 from August but $2.12 below a year ago. 

The 2012 Class III average now stands at $16.54, down from $18.28 at this time a year ago and compares to $14.07 in 2010 and a painful $10.49 in 2009. 

Looking ahead, the October Class III Futures contract was trading late Friday morning at $21.03; November at $21.13, and December at $20.45. 

The AMS-surveyed cheese price averaged $1.8647 per pound, up 9.7 cents from August. Butter averaged $1.8269, up 14.1 cents. Nonfat dry milk averaged $1.3768, up 12.3 cents, and dry whey averaged 58.46 cents, up 4.9 cents.

California’s comparable 4b cheese milk price is $17.50 per cwt., up 93 cents from August and $1.17 above a year ago. Its 2012 average now stands at $14.69, down from $16.48 a year ago and $13.00 in 2010. 

The 4a butter-powder price is $16.62, up $1.22 from August and $2.67 below a year ago. Its average now stands at $14.88, down from $19.24 a year ago and $14.45 in 2010.

Looking at what’s driving milk prices; CME cash cheese saw a fifth week of gain the week of Oct. 1, with the blocks closing at $2.10 per pound, up another 2.5-cents on the week, 33.5 cents above a year ago, but 18.5 cents shy of the record $2.2850 on May 23, 2008. The barrels closed at $2.06, also up 2.5 cents on the week and 27.5 cents above a year ago when they rolled 14.5 cents lower. Seventeen carloads of block traded hands this week and two of barrel. The AMS-surveyed block price averaged $1.8907, across the U.S., up 4.2 cents, and the barrels averaged $1.9051, up 7.7 cents on the week.

Cheese production is mostly steady with recent weeks as manufacturers look to secure more milk for cheese vats, according to USDA’s Dairy Market News (DMN). Demand for mozzarella is good as new pizza promotions are surfacing. Export sales are slower with the recent price increases, but the CWT program continues to aggressively promote sales with their assistance. 

Ten CWT requests for export assistance were accepted this week to sell 4.25 million pounds of cheese and 200,621 pounds of butter to customers in Asia, Central America, the Middle East and North Africa. 

Tuesday’s Global Dairy Trade auction saw the weighted average price for all contracts fall 0.9 percent from the previous event, according to FC Stone’s eDairy Insider Closing Bell. Whole milk powder (WMP) and buttermilk powder (BMP) were the exceptions but all global prices are well below U.S. prices. The average price for anhydrous milk fat (AMF) of $1.3526 per pound was down 6.4 percent (adjusted for 80 percent fat the price was $1.0843); the cheddar cheese price fell 7.4 percent to $1.4969 per pound. BMP at $1.4261 per pound rose 4 percent; but WMP at $1.4365, climbed 2.8 percent.