A little show of strength in the dairy markets on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange on Wednesday.  Cash cheese barrels slipped a half-cent but blocks gained a penny, nonfat dry milk added a half-cent and Class III futures saw double-digit increases for the day.

Continued strong milk and cheese production has some manufacturers trying to figure out just how long demand will keep-up.  Both retailers and food supply buyers have kept cheese moving out of plants.  Surplus loads of milk did sell for $10 under Class earlier this week but Dairy Market News says it is more like $7 now.  Most cheese makers are happy to run their plants at full capacity and some are adding barrel capacity.

In the Northeast, milk supplies were heavy over the Memorial Day weekend as some cheese makers took advantage of the discounted spot loads.  Components are starting to show their seasonal decline.

Out West, cheese makers are busy.  The latest Cold Storage numbers from the National Ag Statistics Service show that in the West Mountain Region, American cheese stocks were 19 percent less than a year ago and 9 percent below a month ago.  Pacific Region American cheese stocks were down 22 percent for the year and 3 percent for the month.  Other natural cheese stocks were up 20 percent for the year.