Butter and Nonfat Dry Milk Rise While Cheese Slips at CME Friday
Key Takeaways
- •Butter rose $0.0025 to $1.46 at the CME, with three sales reported between $1.46 and $1.4625.
- •Nonfat dry milk increased $0.0150 to $1.8650, a supportive factor for Class IV milk values under USDA pricing formulas.
- •Forty-pound cheese blocks fell $0.0125 to $1.4825, and cheese barrels declined $0.01 to $1.5650 with no sales reported.
- •Dry whey dropped $0.0075 to $0.7375, and together with cheese weakness this pressured the Class III milk price complex.
- •Traders are looking to upcoming CME spot sessions and USDA reports for further market direction.
Cash dairy prices were mostly higher Friday, closing out the week at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, where the daily spot trades for cheese, butter, nonfat dry milk, and dry whey serve as key reference prices for the U.S. dairy sector.
Butter gained $0.0025 to $1.46, with three sales reported ranging from $1.46 to $1.4625. Nonfat dry milk rose $0.0150 to $1.8650, with three sales reported ranging from $1.8625 to $1.8650. Spot nonfat dry milk is a component used in USDA milk pricing formulas, so the day's gain is a supportive data point for Class IV milk values.
On the downside, forty-pound cheese blocks slipped $0.0125 to $1.4825, with ten sales reported ranging from $1.4625 to $1.4850. Cheese barrels fell $0.01 to $1.5650, with no sales reported. Dry whey declined $0.0075 to $0.7375, with no sales reported. Because cheese and dry whey are the primary drivers of the Class III milk price formula, the softness in both products weighed on that side of the complex even as butter and nonfat dry milk firmed. Traders will be watching upcoming CME spot sessions and USDA reports for further direction.
The report was filed under Closing Futures / Livestock Briefs, Dairy Markets, and Market News by Erin Anderson on August 28, 2026.
