The Agriculture Department announced the first Class I base milk price of 2018 at $15.44 per hundredweight, down $1.44 from December 2017, $2.01 below January 2017, and equates to 
about $1.33 per gallon, down from $1.45 in December. It is the lowest Class I price since June 2017.
The USDA surveyed butter price used in calculating the Class I value averaged $2.2256 per pound, down 3.8 cents from December.
Nonfat dry milk averaged 72.90 cents per pound, down 2.7 cents. Cheese averaged $1.6513 per pound, down 11.3 cents, and dry whey averaged 29.95 cents per pound, down 5.7 cents.
