Da 2-8 (5-98) Cheddar Cheese Prices National Agricultural Statistics Service USDA Washington, D.C. Released May 29, 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) 720-9168, office hours 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET. Cheddar Cheese Prices Increase Prices received for 500 lb. Barrel Cheddar cheese increased 0.3 cents per lb. for the week ending May 22, 1998, ending twelve straight weeks of price declines. The price of US 40 lb. Blocks increased 1.1 cents per pound. 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 June 5, 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/. Cheddar Cheese Prices by Style and Region -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Week Ending Style and Region :----------------------------------------------------------- : May 22, : May 15, : May 8, : May 1, : Apr 24, : 1998 : 1998 1/ : 1998 1/ : 1998 1/ : 1998 1/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Dol./Lb. 40 Lb. Blocks : Avg. Price 2/ : MN/WI : 1.2440 1.2159 1.2048 1.2442 1.2918 West 3/ : 1.1901 1.1829 1.1730 1.2069 1.2493 US 4/ : 1.2019 1.1912 1.1812 1.2138 1.2567 : : Pounds Sales Volume 5/ : MN/WI : 893,539 1,431,414 990,558 780,161 914,538 West 3/ : 4,173,209 4,355,258 4,926,661 5,017,597 5,617,861 US 4/ : 5,559,035 6,135,519 6,472,898 6,386,810 7,045,842 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Dol./Lb. 640 Lb. Blocks : Avg. Price 2/ : US : 1.2259 1.2280 1.2292 1.2812 1.3175 : : Pounds Sales Volume 5/ : US : 1,436,599 1,281,217 1,118,947 666,726 698,107 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Dol./Lb. 500 Lb. Barrels : Avg. Price 2/ : MN/WI : 1.2642 1.2653 1.2659 1.3258 1.3191 Oth : 1.2797 1.2733 1.2724 1.3083 1.3238 US : 1.2736 1.2702 1.2699 1.3124 1.3222 : Price Adj. to : 39% Moisture : MN/WI : 1.2030 1.2029 1.2031 1.2381 1.2525 Oth : 1.1828 1.1780 1.1813 1.2098 1.2288 US : 1.1907 1.1874 1.1898 1.2163 1.2368 : : Pounds Sales Volume 5/ : MN/WI : 4,055,420 4,579,020 4,431,889 1,991,877 3,722,696 Oth : 6,167,629 7,278,495 6,813,086 6,600,589 7,090,972 US :10,223,049 11,857,515 11,244,975 8,592,466 10,813,668 : : Percent Moisture Content : MN/WI : 35.90 35.83 35.81 34.68 35.76 Oth : 34.00 34.07 34.30 34.04 34.28 US : 34.75 34.75 34.89 34.18 34.79 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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.