# Lee Mielke: Benchmark drops 84 cents | Capital Press

> The April 2024 Federal order Class III milk price was announced at $15.50 per hundredweight, down 84 cents from March and $3.02 below April 2023. The April Class IV price rose slightly to $20.11, and Class III futures pointed to higher May through July prices.

- Date: 2024-05-07 · published 2024-05-07T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: report · region US · magnitude medium
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/7591-lee-mielke-benchmark-drops-84-cents-capital-press
- Commodities: [Milk (Class III)](https://feedsoft.ai/c/MILK.md)

## Why it matters

The lower Class III price reflects weaker cheese-based milk values, which reduces the return on milk used for cheese. Futures signaling a rebound toward a June peak point to firmer milk prices ahead for dairy-feed demand.

## Read by commodity

- MILK: bearish ▼

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| MILK | 2024-11-05 | [Lee Mielke: Benchmark milk price down 49 cents \| Capital Press](https://feedsoft.ai/events/8626-lee-mielke-benchmark-milk-price-down-49-cents-capital-press.md) | -0.5% | -1.1% |
| MILK | 2021-07-06 | [Mielke: Benchmark price falls $1.75 \| Capital Press](https://feedsoft.ai/events/46070-mielke-benchmark-price-falls-1-75-capital-press.md) | +0.6% | -2.0% |
| MILK | 2023-03-10 | [Benchmark Drops $1.65 By Lee Mielke \| TheFencePost.com](https://feedsoft.ai/events/37017-benchmark-drops-1-65-by-lee-mielke-thefencepost-com.md) | +1.4% | +5.2% |
| MILK | 2023-01-17 | [Lee Mielke: Milk estimates lowered \| Capital Press](https://feedsoft.ai/events/37784-lee-mielke-milk-estimates-lowered-capital-press.md) | +0.1% | -7.8% |
| MILK | 2025-11-19 | [Benchmark drops 68 cents \| TheFencePost.com](https://feedsoft.ai/events/22109-benchmark-drops-68-cents-thefencepost-com.md) | -0.2% | -8.1% |

## Sources

- capitalpress.com: https://capitalpress.com/2024/05/07/lee-mielke-benchmark-drops-84-cents/

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