Da 2-8 (8-98) Cheddar Cheese Prices National Agricultur al Statistics Service USDA Washington, D.C. Released August 21, 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 Mixed Prices received for US 40 lb. Block Cheddar cheese increased 1.7 cents per pound for the week ending August 14, 1998. This is the fourteenth consecutive week of increasing US 40 lb. Block prices. The price of US 500 lb. Barrels decreased 0.6 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 67 plants reporting account for an estimated 85 percent of natural Cheddar cheese sales. Estimates for the prior 4 weeks are subject to revision. The next "Cheddar Cheese Prices" report will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET on August 28, 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 :----------------------------------------------------------- : Aug 14, : Aug 7, : Jul 31, : Jul 24, : Jul 17, : 1998 : 1998 1/ : 1998 1/ : 1998 : 1998 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Dol./Lb. 40 Lb. Blocks : Avg. Price 2/ : MN/WI : 1.6691 1.6597 1.6470 1.6374 1.6178 West 3/ : 1.6198 1.5976 1.5994 1.5782 1.5593 US 4/ : 1.6370 1.6196 1.6154 1.5929 1.5787 : : Pounds Sales Volume 5/ : MN/WI : 1,837,043 2,028,294 1,523,364 1,405,971 1,823,214 West 3/ : 4,178,750 4,411,109 3,895,598 4,702,751 4,077,402 US 4/ : 6,261,923 6,662,152 5,613,538 6,284,646 6,114,827 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Dol./Lb. 640 Lb. Blocks : Avg. Price 2/ : US : 1.6064 1.6357 1.6145 1.5968 1.5890 : : Pounds Sales Volume 5/ : US : 804,747 461,951 679,724 1,320,815 1,242,802 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : Dol./Lb. 500 Lb. Barrels : Avg. Price 2/ : MN/WI : 1.6101 1.6112 1.6077 1.6132 1.6408 Oth : 1.5575 1.5537 1.5869 1.6041 1.5999 US : 1.5807 1.5785 1.5958 1.6077 1.6172 : Price Adj. to : 39% Moisture : MN/WI : 1.5265 1.5286 1.5217 1.5300 1.5542 Oth : 1.4430 1.4525 1.4840 1.4959 1.4903 US : 1.4793 1.4851 1.5000 1.5090 1.5172 : : Pounds Sales Volume 5/ : MN/WI : 2,873,207 3,688,127 3,788,800 3,793,914 3,969,888 Oth : 3,647,261 4,853,888 5,064,175 5,923,743 5,386,996 US : 6,520,468 8,542,015 8,852,975 9,717,657 9,356,884 : : Percent Moisture Content : MN/WI : 35.66 35.70 35.55 35.68 35.60 Oth : 34.16 34.75 34.77 34.59 34.51 US : 34.82 35.16 35.11 35.01 34.98 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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.