Cheddar Cheese Prices National Agricultural Statistics Service USDA Washington, D.C. Released May 1, 1998, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, U.S. Department of Agriculture. For information on "Cheddar Cheese Prices" call Shawn Clark at (202) 720-4448, office hours 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET. Cheddar Cheese Prices Continue Decline Prices received for 500 lb. Barrel Cheddar cheese decreased 1.3 cents per lb. for the week ending April 24, 1998. Barrel prices have declined each of the last nine weeks. The price of US 40 lb. Blocks decreased 4.3 cents per pound. This is the tenth consecutive week of decreasing US 40 lb. Block prices. Data Reliability: The survey collects price information on sales of natural, unaged, Cheddar cheese at the first (wholesale) point of sale. Data are recorded for sales transactions completed during the survey week. A transaction is considered complete when cheese is shipped out or title transfers. The 65 plants reporting account for an estimated 85 percent of natural Cheddar cheese sales. Estimates for only the current month are subject to revision. Only electronic subscriptions are available for this report. Print copies are available at USDA, Room 5829, SO. Bldg. This report is also available on autofax at (202) 720-2000. For Internet access, go to the NASS Home Page at: http://www.usda.gov/nass/. Da 2-8 (5-98) Cheddar Cheese Prices by Style and Region -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Week Ending Style and Region :----------------------------------------------------------- : Apr 24, : Apr 17, : Apr 10, : Apr 3, : Mar 27, : 1998 : 1998 1/ : 1998 1/ : 1998 : 1998 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Dol./Lb. 40 Lb. Blocks : Avg. Price 2/ : MN/WI : 1.2918 1.3135 1.3633 1.3684 1.3968 West 3/ : 1.2485 1.2908 1.3224 1.3338 1.3511 US 4/ : 1.2567 1.2999 1.3335 1.3459 1.3614 : : Pounds Sales Volume 5/ : MN/WI : 914,538 1,341,810 1,129,092 1,194,530 858,304 West 3/ : 5,016,692 4,659,435 4,338,671 3,963,932 4,448,580 US 4/ : 6,444,673 6,453,516 5,964,480 5,570,411 5,723,788 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Dol./Lb. 640 Lb. Blocks : Avg. Price 2/ : US : 1.3175 1.3485 1.3655 1.3766 1.3891 : : Pounds Sales Volume 5/ : US : 698,107 790,241 794,294 651,557 639,581 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Dol./Lb. 500 Lb. Barrels : Avg. Price 2/ : MN/WI : 1.3191 1.3482 1.3485 1.3801 1.4153 Oth : 1.3238 1.3365 1.3453 1.3710 1.4016 US : 1.3222 1.3412 1.3466 1.3746 1.4068 : Price Adj. to : 39% Moisture : MN/WI : 1.2525 1.2702 1.2764 1.2954 1.3199 Oth : 1.2288 1.2365 1.2386 1.2654 1.2903 US : 1.2368 1.2498 1.2543 1.2773 1.3014 : : Pounds Sales Volume 5/ : MN/WI : 3,722,696 3,564,922 3,993,563 3,722,923 3,933,371 Oth : 7,090,972 5,333,636 5,485,613 5,588,204 6,469,280 US :10,813,668 8,898,558 9,479,176 9,311,127 10,402,651 : : Percent Moisture Content : MN/WI : 35.76 35.26 35.55 35.01 34.59 Oth : 34.28 34.06 33.75 33.91 33.74 US : 34.79 34.54 34.51 34.35 34.06 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/ Revised. 2/ Prices weighted by volumes reported. 3/ CA, ID, OR, and WA. 4/ "Other Regions" included in U.S. total. 5/ Sales as reported by cooperating manufacturers.