Cheddar Cheese Prices National Agricultural Statistics Service USDA Washington, D.C. Released May 15, 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 2.7 cents per lb. for the week ending May 8, 1998. Barrel prices have declined each of the last eleven weeks. The price of US 40 lb. Blocks decreased 3.3 cents per pound. This is the twelfth consecutive week of decreasing US 40 lb. Block prices. This is the second time since this price series began that the US 500 lb. Barrel Cheddar cheese price has been above the US 40 lb. Block Cheddar cheese price. 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 :----------------------------------------------------------- : May 8, : May 1, : Apr 24, : Apr 17, : Apr 10, : 1998 : 1998 1/ : 1998 1/ : 1998 : 1998 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Dol./Lb. 40 Lb. Blocks : Avg. Price 2/ : MN/WI : 1.2048 1.2442 1.2918 1.3135 1.3633 West 3/ : 1.1721 1.2068 1.2492 1.2908 1.3224 US 4/ : 1.1810 1.2138 1.2566 1.2999 1.3335 : : Pounds Sales Volume 5/ : MN/WI : 990,558 780,161 914,538 1,341,810 1,129,092 West 3/ : 4,622,802 5,013,236 5,600,863 4,659,435 4,338,671 US 4/ : 6,169,039 6,382,449 7,028,844 6,453,516 5,964,480 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Dol./Lb. 640 Lb. Blocks : Avg. Price 2/ : US : 1.2292 1.2812 1.3175 1.3485 1.3655 : : Pounds Sales Volume 5/ : US : 1,118,947 666,726 698,107 790,241 794,294 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Dol./Lb. 500 Lb. Barrels : Avg. Price 2/ : MN/WI : 1.2659 1.3258 1.3191 1.3482 1.3485 Oth : 1.2724 1.3083 1.3238 1.3365 1.3453 US : 1.2699 1.3124 1.3222 1.3412 1.3466 : Price Adj. to : 39% Moisture : MN/WI : 1.2031 1.2381 1.2525 1.2702 1.2764 Oth : 1.1813 1.2098 1.2288 1.2365 1.2386 US : 1.1898 1.2163 1.2368 1.2498 1.2543 : : Pounds Sales Volume 5/ : MN/WI : 4,431,889 1,991,877 3,722,696 3,564,922 3,993,563 Oth : 6,813,086 6,600,589 7,090,972 5,333,636 5,485,613 US :11,244,975 8,592,466 10,813,668 8,898,558 9,479,176 : : Percent Moisture Content : MN/WI : 35.81 34.68 35.76 35.26 35.55 Oth : 34.30 34.04 34.28 34.06 33.75 US : 34.89 34.18 34.79 34.54 34.51 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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.