HDR1012000160051212970830CHEDDAR CHEESE PRICES National Agricultural Statistics Service USDA Washington, D.C. Released December 12, 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. Block Prices Increase 2.6 Cents Prices received for 500 lb. Barrel Cheddar cheese decreased 1.5 cents per lb. for the week ending December 5, 1997. Block prices increased 2.6 cents per pound. This is the twelfth 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 8:30 a.m. ET on December 19, 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 5, : Nov 28, : Nov 21, : Nov 14, : Nov 7, : 1997 : 1997 1/ : 1997 : 1997 : 1997 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Dol./Lb. 40 Lb. Blocks : Avg. Price 2/ : MN/WI : 1.4494 1.4503 1.4430 1.4324 1.4259 West 3/ : 1.3970 1.3723 1.3719 1.3719 1.3692 US 4/ : 1.4130 1.3875 1.3884 1.3844 1.3838 : : Pounds Sales Volume 5/ : MN/WI : 1,507,475 828,482 873,026 1,018,343 1,405,855 West 3/ : 4,419,472 4,097,647 4,097,030 4,056,365 4,851,343 US 4/ : 6,310,754 5,182,197 5,401,882 5,502,238 6,397,365 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Dol./Lb. 640 Lb. Blocks : Avg. Price 2/ : US : 1.4210 1.4047 1.3484 1.4000 1.4190 : : Pounds Sales Volume 5/ : US : 1,723,836 970,098 1,562,137 1,223,941 587,132 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Dol./Lb. 500 Lb. Barrels : Avg. Price 2/ : MN/WI : 1.4008 1.4018 1.4237 1.4439 1.4484 Oth : 1.3833 1.4011 1.4280 1.4385 1.4401 US : 1.3906 1.4014 1.4263 1.4407 1.4430 : Price Adj. to : 39% Moisture : MN/WI : 1.3176 1.3299 1.3427 1.3634 1.3645 Oth : 1.2783 1.2973 1.3226 1.3343 1.3377 US : 1.2944 1.3093 1.3303 1.3460 1.3473 : : Pounds Sales Volume 5/ : MN/WI : 3,259,798 2,463,899 3,306,215 3,151,365 3,378,856 Oth : 4,618,128 4,148,900 5,199,181 4,597,232 5,997,281 US : 7,877,926 6,612,799 8,505,396 7,748,597 9,376,137 : : Percent Moisture Content : MN/WI : 35.15 35.70 35.32 35.40 35.25 Oth : 33.99 34.12 34.14 34.24 34.33 US : 34.47 34.71 34.60 34.71 34.66 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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.