Cheese Declines While Butter Holds Steady Friday at CME
Key Takeaways
- •Forty-pound cheese blocks fell $0.0125 to $1.4650, with fourteen sales ranging from $1.4550 to $1.4850.
- •Dry whey rose $0.0025 to $0.7525 on one reported sale.
- •Cheese barrels were unchanged at $1.5325, keeping the barrel-block spread inverted with barrels above blocks, a pattern historically reflecting tight barrel supplies.
- •Butter and nonfat dry milk held steady at $1.44 and $1.88 respectively, with no sales reported in either.
- •CME daily spot dairy auctions serve as a key price-discovery benchmark feeding into federal milk marketing order pricing for cheese, butter, and milk powders.
Cash dairy prices ended the week on a mixed note Friday at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
The CME's daily spot dairy auctions serve as a key price-discovery benchmark for U.S. dairy, feeding into federal milk marketing order pricing for cheese, butter, and milk powders.
Dry whey rose $0.0025 to $0.7525, with one sale reported at that price.
Forty-pound cheese blocks fell $0.0125 to $1.4650. Fourteen sales were reported, ranging from $1.4550 to $1.4850. The active trading in blocks contrasted with a quieter session elsewhere on the board.
Cheese barrels were unchanged at $1.5325, with no sales reported. The gap between barrels and blocks remained inverted, with barrels trading above blocks, a configuration that historically reflects relative tightness in barrel cheese supplies used largely in processed cheese.
Butter held steady at $1.44, with no sales reported.
Nonfat dry milk was unchanged at $1.88, with no sales reported.
Traders typically watch subsequent sessions for whether block cheese weakness extends and whether the quieter butter and powder markets signal price direction ahead.
Source: Brownfield Ag News (By Erin Anderson, September 4, 2026)
