Dairy Products Prices National Agricultural Statistics Service USDA Washington, D.C. Released October 9, 1998, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, U.S. Department of Agriculture. For information on "Dairy Products Prices" call Shawn Clark at 202-720-9168, or Chris Cadwallader at 202-720-4751, office hours 7:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET. Cheddar Cheese Prices Continue Increase Cheddar Cheese prices received for US 40 lb. Blocks increased 4.3 cents per pound for the week ending October 3, 1998. The price of US 500 lb. Barrels increased 5.4 cents per pound. Both US 40 lb. Blocks and US 500 lb. Barrels averaged above $1.70 per lb. for the first time since this price series began. Butter prices received for 25 kilogram and 68 pound boxes meeting USDA Grade AA standards have been stable over the past four weeks after increasing 41.6 cents per pound between the week ending September 5, 1998 and the week ending September 12, 1998. Price per pound for the week ending October 3, 1998 was $2.78 cents per pound. Nonfat Dry Milk prices received for bag, tote and tanker sales meeting USDA Extra Grade or USPH Grade A standards averaged $1.08 cents per pound for the week ending October 3, 1998. The U.S. price per pound has increased 3.1 cents per pound over the past four weeks. Dry Whey prices received for bag, tote and tanker sales meeting USDA Extra Grade standards averaged 25.6 cents per pound for the week ending October 3, 1998. The U.S. price per pound has varied only 0.9 cents per pound over the past five weeks. Cheddar Cheese Prices by Style and Region -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Week Ending Style and Region :----------------------------------------------------------- : Oct 3, : Sep 26, : Sep 19, : Sep 12, : Sep 5, : 1998 : 1998 1/ : 1998 1/ : 1998 1/ : 1998 1/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Dol./Lb. 40 Lb. Blocks : Avg. Price 2/ : MN/WI : 1.7963 1.7306 1.6964 1.6795 1.6713 West 3/ : 1.6902 1.6587 1.6355 1.6287 1.6266 US 4/ : 1.7236 1.6806 1.6599 1.6436 1.6403 : : Pounds Sales Volume 5/ : MN/WI : 1,489,301 1,521,506 2,304,550 1,716,597 1,563,636 West 3/ : 3,436,695 3,731,472 3,808,872 4,429,596 3,991,588 US 4/ : 5,006,744 5,407,418 6,211,440 6,176,702 5,606,511 : : Dol./Lb. 500 Lb. Barrels : Avg. Price 2/ : MN/WI : 1.8223 1.7777 1.7327 1.6764 1.6032 Oth Sts : 1.8008 1.7547 1.7057 1.6198 1.5627 US : 1.8073 1.7604 1.7139 1.6377 1.5765 : Price Adj. to : 39% Moisture : MN/WI : 1.7531 1.7118 1.6559 1.5924 1.5242 Oth Sts : 1.6877 1.6344 1.5885 1.5166 1.4640 US : 1.7070 1.6532 1.6086 1.5403 1.4843 : : Pounds Sales Volume 5/ : MN/WI : 2,201,423 1,880,829 2,364,928 2,160,351 2,713,960 Oth Sts : 5,116,620 5,671,943 5,393,078 4,665,164 5,279,666 US : 7,318,043 7,552,772 7,758,006 6,825,515 7,993,626 : : Percent Moisture Content : MN/WI : 36.59 36.65 36.17 35.78 35.84 Oth Sts : 34.91 34.51 34.50 34.85 34.89 US : 35.42 35.04 35.01 35.14 35.21 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Revised. 2/ Prices weighted by volumes reported. 3/ AZ, CA, ID, NV, OR, UT, and WA. 4/ "Oth Sts" included in U.S. total. 5/ Sales as reported by cooperating manufacturers. Butter Prices -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Week Ending Region :----------------------------------------------------------- : Oct 3, : Sep 26, : Sep 19, : Sep 12, : Sep 5, : 1998 : 1998 : 1998 : 1998 : 1998 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Dol./Lb. Avg. Price 1/ : US : 2.7774 2.7785 2.7795 2.7617 2.3461 : : : Pounds Sales Volume 2/ : US : 1,777,205 1,963,053 1,288,076 2,546,689 1,769,576 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Prices weighted by volumes reported. 2/ Sales as reported by cooperating manufacturers. Nonfat Dry Milk Prices -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Week Ending Region :----------------------------------------------------------- : Oct 3, : Sep 26, : Sep 19, : Sep 12, : Sep 5, : 1998 : 1998 : 1998 : 1998 : 1998 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Dol./Lb. Avg. Price 1/ : US : 1.0750 1.0601 1.0536 1.0473 1.0443 : : : Pounds Sales Volume 2/ : US : 9,833,959 12,404,405 15,291,599 16,854,038 12,801,354 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Prices weighted by volumes reported. 2/ Sales as reported by cooperating manufacturers. Dry Whey Prices -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Week Ending Region :----------------------------------------------------------- : Oct 3, : Sep 26, : Sep 19, : Sep 12, : Sep 5, : 1998 : 1998 : 1998 : 1998 : 1998 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Dol./Lb. Avg. Price 1/ : US : 0.2559 0.2642 0.2650 0.2633 0.2641 : : : Pounds Sales Volume 2/ : US : 5,822,662 5,263,149 6,456,122 6,683,054 5,569,504 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Prices weighted by volumes reported. 2/ Sales as reported by cooperating manufacturers. Procedures and Reliability: Price information included in this report is provided each week by manufacturers of these products. Data are collected by fax and electronic mail each week for the previous week. Price information collected is for the (wholesale) point of sale for : 1) Natural, unaged cheddar cheese in 40 pound blocks and 500 pound barrels. 2) Boxes of butter meeting USDA Grade AA standards, 80% butterfat, salted, fresh or storage. 3) USDA Extra Grade edible nonhygroscopic dry whey. 4) USDA Extra Grade and USPH Grade A, nonfortified nonfat dry milk. A transaction is complete when the product is "shipped out" and title transfers. Revision Policy: Price data for the prior 4 weeks are subject to revision based on late reports. The next "Dairy Products Prices" report will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET on October 16, 1998. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or family status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) 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