Cheddar Cheese Prices National Agricultural Statistics Service USDA Washington, D.C. Released December 19, 1997, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, U.S. Department of Agriculture. For information on "Cheddar Cheese Prices" call Doyle Fuchs at (202) 720-6880, office hours 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET. Barrel Prices Decline 1.1 Cents Prices received for 500 lb. Barrel Cheddar cheese decreased 1.1 cents per lb. for the week ending December 12, 1997. Block prices decreased 0.3 cents per pound. This is the thirteenth consecutive week that the US 40 lb. block price has averaged greater than $1.38 per lb. 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. NOTICE Since December 26 was declared a federal holiday, the report scheduled for that Friday will be issued on Monday December 29 at 3:00 pm. Also, the report scheduled for January 2 will be issued at 3:00 pm since the prior day is a holiday. The next "Cheddar Cheese Prices" report will be released at 3:00 p.m. ET on December 29, 1997. 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/. Cheddar Cheese Prices by Style and Region -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Week Ending Style and Region :----------------------------------------------------------- : Dec 12, : Dec 5, : Nov 28, : Nov 21, : Nov 14, : 1997 : 1997 1/ : 1997 : 1997 : 1997 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Dol./Lb. 40 Lb. Blocks : Avg. Price 2/ : MN/WI : 1.4586 1.4494 1.4503 1.4430 1.4324 West 3/ : 1.3986 1.3983 1.3723 1.3719 1.3719 US 4/ : 1.4102 1.4135 1.3875 1.3884 1.3844 : : Pounds Sales Volume 5/ : MN/WI : 855,082 1,507,475 828,482 873,026 1,018,343 West 3/ : 3,946,220 4,597,908 4,097,647 4,097,030 4,056,365 US 4/ : 4,839,277 6,489,190 5,182,197 5,401,882 5,502,238 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Dol./Lb. 640 Lb. Blocks : Avg. Price 2/ : US : 1.4439 1.4210 1.4047 1.3484 1.4000 : : Pounds Sales Volume 5/ : US : 882,117 1,723,836 970,098 1,562,137 1,223,941 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Dol./Lb. 500 Lb. Barrels : Avg. Price 2/ : MN/WI : 1.3862 1.4008 1.4018 1.4237 1.4439 Oth : 1.3761 1.3833 1.4011 1.4280 1.4385 US : 1.3801 1.3906 1.4014 1.4263 1.4407 : Price Adj. to : 39% Moisture : MN/WI : 1.3056 1.3176 1.3299 1.3427 1.3634 Oth : 1.2685 1.2783 1.2973 1.3226 1.3343 US : 1.2830 1.2944 1.3093 1.3303 1.3460 : : Pounds Sales Volume 5/ : MN/WI : 3,635,541 3,259,798 2,463,899 3,306,215 3,151,365 Oth : 5,550,584 4,618,128 4,148,900 5,199,181 4,597,232 US : 9,186,125 7,877,926 6,612,799 8,505,396 7,748,597 : : Percent Moisture Content : MN/WI : 35.23 35.15 35.70 35.32 35.40 Oth : 33.83 33.99 34.12 34.14 34.24 US : 34.39 34.47 34.71 34.60 34.71 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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.