Cheddar Cheese Prices National Agricultural Statistics Service USDA Washington, D.C. Released May 22, 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 Mixed Prices received for 500 lb. Barrel Cheddar cheese decreased 0.2 cents per lb. for the week ending May 15, 1998. Barrel prices have declined each of the last twelve weeks. The price of US 40 lb. Blocks increased 1.0 cents per pound, ending twelve straight weeks of price declines. 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. The next "Cheddar Cheese Prices" report will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET on May 29, 1998. 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 :----------------------------------------------------------- : May 15, : May 8, : May 1, : Apr 24, : Apr 17, : 1998 : 1998 1/ : 1998 : 1998 : 1998 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Dol./Lb. 40 Lb. Blocks : Avg. Price 2/ : MN/WI : 1.2159 1.2048 1.2442 1.2918 1.3135 West 3/ : 1.1828 1.1729 1.2068 1.2492 1.2908 US 4/ : 1.1912 1.1812 1.2138 1.2566 1.2999 : : Pounds Sales Volume 5/ : MN/WI : 1,431,414 990,558 780,161 914,538 1,341,810 West 3/ : 4,352,539 4,917,683 5,013,236 5,600,863 4,659,435 US 4/ : 6,132,800 6,463,920 6,382,449 7,028,844 6,453,516 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Dol./Lb. 640 Lb. Blocks : Avg. Price 2/ : US : 1.2280 1.2292 1.2812 1.3175 1.3485 : : Pounds Sales Volume 5/ : US : 1,281,217 1,118,947 666,726 698,107 790,241 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Dol./Lb. 500 Lb. Barrels : Avg. Price 2/ : MN/WI : 1.2653 1.2659 1.3258 1.3191 1.3482 Oth : 1.2733 1.2724 1.3083 1.3238 1.3365 US : 1.2702 1.2699 1.3124 1.3222 1.3412 : Price Adj. to : 39% Moisture : MN/WI : 1.2029 1.2031 1.2381 1.2525 1.2702 Oth : 1.1780 1.1813 1.2098 1.2288 1.2365 US : 1.1874 1.1898 1.2163 1.2368 1.2498 : : Pounds Sales Volume 5/ : MN/WI : 4,579,020 4,431,889 1,991,877 3,722,696 3,564,922 Oth : 7,278,495 6,813,086 6,600,589 7,090,972 5,333,636 US :11,857,515 11,244,975 8,592,466 10,813,668 8,898,558 : : Percent Moisture Content : MN/WI : 35.83 35.81 34.68 35.76 35.26 Oth : 34.07 34.30 34.04 34.28 34.06 US : 34.75 34.89 34.18 34.79 34.54 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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.