# Mielke: Dairy prices hemorrhaging | Capital Press

> Class III milk futures and cheese prices fell sharply in late March 2020 as COVID-19 fears spread. Cheddar blocks dropped to $1.33 and barrels to $1.2050, the lowest levels in several years. Foodservice cheese orders slipped while retail demand stayed firm.

- Date: 2020-03-31 · published 2020-03-31T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: macro · region US · magnitude medium
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/4155-mielke-dairy-prices-hemorrhaging-capital-press
- Commodities: [Milk (Class III)](https://feedsoft.ai/c/MILK.md)

## Why it matters

Weakening foodservice demand for cheese feeds directly into lower milk futures and lower farm milk prices.

## Read by commodity

- MILK: bearish ▼

## Linked price moves

| Commodity | Date | Window | Change % | z-score | Why linked |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| MILK | 2020-03-31 | 1 | -10.9% | -20.3 | Published 2020-03-31, it reports that cheese blocks and barrels hit multi-year lows and Class III futures fell sharply on COVID-19 foodservice fears, which directly explains the one-day drop. |
| MILK | 2020-04-01 | 1 | -10.9% | -19.8 | Cheese block and barrel prices collapsed to multi-year lows in late March as foodservice orders fell, directly pressuring Class III futures, which are priced off cheese. |
| MILK | 2020-04-05 | 5 | -14.4% | -6.4 | Cheddar blocks and barrels dropped to multi-year lows as foodservice cheese orders slipped, pressuring Class III, which is priced off cheese and whey. |
| MILK | 2020-04-06 | 5 | -14.4% | -5.9 | Late-March collapse in cheese blocks and barrels to multi-year lows fed directly into Class III futures, which are driven by cheese prices. |

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| MILK | 2022-07-12 | [Lee Mielke: Dairy product demand weakening \| Capital Press](https://feedsoft.ai/events/40633-lee-mielke-dairy-product-demand-weakening-capital-press.md) | -0.8% | -12.3% |
| MILK | 2020-04-24 | [Idaho dairymen dump milk as demand, prices fall \| Capital Press](https://feedsoft.ai/events/6502-idaho-dairymen-dump-milk-as-demand-prices-fall-capital-press.md) | -13.8% | -7.5% |
| MILK | 2020-03-25 | [COVID-19 pandemic rocks dairy markets \| Capital Press](https://feedsoft.ai/events/54272-covid-19-pandemic-rocks-dairy-markets-capital-press.md) | -0.2% | -17.5% |
| MILK | 2020-04-21 | [COVID-19 infects nearly all commodity prices \| Capital Press](https://feedsoft.ai/events/6503-covid-19-infects-nearly-all-commodity-prices-capital-press.md) | -1.6% | -8.7% |
| MILK | 2020-04-28 | [COVID-19 continues to hammer dairy prices](https://feedsoft.ai/events/5177-covid-19-continues-to-hammer-dairy-prices.md) | -12.8% | -7.6% |

## Sources

- capitalpress.com: https://capitalpress.com/2020/03/31/mielke-dairy-prices-hemorrhaging/

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Data from Feedsoft AI (https://feedsoft.ai/). For information only; not investment advice.