MD_DA851 Cheese Highlights Report 13 - Released on March 27, 2020 Cheese demand has continued its shift, favoring retail over what can be viewed as a faltering food service ordering. School and restaurant orders are at a lull, with the COVID- 19 pandemic causing unprecedented closures throughout the country (and world). Retail based cheese producers have been busy, as plant managers in some cases run seven days a week. Milk is plentiful, even with some overages reported in the Midwest. The spot milk price range was $4 under to $2 over Class. Bottling plants pulled some milk from Class III production, but bottling demand has settled after the early retail store rushes. Cheese market tones, like most dairy commodity markets, are not in a good place. This week, the large block to barrel price gap remains, while prices have slipped simultaneously. Information for the period March 23 - 27, 2020, issued weekly Secondary Sourced Information: The weekly average price for CME barrels is $1.4125, compared to $1.4500 one week ago. CME blocks’ weekly average is $1.7545, compared to $1.8635 last week. Published by: Dairy Market News - Madison, WI ISRAEL WEBER, 608-422-8601 Email: israel.weber@usda.gov Additional Dairy Market News Information: Dairy Market News (DMN) by Phone: (608)422-8602 DMN Website: https://www.ams.usda.gov/market-news/dairy DMN MARS (My Market News): https://mymarketnews.ams.usda.gov