Small MILC rate is possible for February

The MILC payment rate is still projected at zero, but Robert Cropp Professor Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison , said on Tuesday’s DairyLine there may be a small payment in February. He said there could be a small payment in February if you look at the futures and where feed prices have increased.  “You look at February where the futures are, they’re anticipating the cheese market not coming back,” he said.” “I think it will come back better and hold that price up.”

Click Here for Roger Cryan, NMPF projectionCropp is looking for a much better year in prices in 2010. He expects milk production to continue to run below year ago levels with further reduction. He also sees positive signs on the demand side, both in the restaurant business and the export market.    Cash block cheese continues to sell below the barrels this week. Cropp said with the holidays are over, the demand for blocks are not quite as strong. During the holiday period, a little more production shifted to block cheese and tightened up the barrels.

How long will the reverse last between barrels and blocks? “I imagine you’ll see a correction here in the next two or three weeks, where the blocks will probably come back higher than the barrels” He expects the relationship will then to stabilize.