Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) has announced tentative plans to accepted 209 bids in its herd retirement program, representing 25,474 cows and 440 million pounds of milk.
This latest round of CWT’s milk reduction program should help strengthen farm-level prices for milk at a time when dairy producers are suffering from rising feed and fuel costs, according to CWT officials.
Farmers in 41 states submitted a total of 609 herd retirement bids last month to CWT, reflecting “the continued financial stress that farmers in all parts of the country are facing as the cost of production has soared during the past two years,” said Jerry Kozak, President and CEO of NMPF, which administers CWT. Kozak noted that the cost of dairy feed has risen 37% between the spring of 2006 and the spring of 2008, while the cost of diesel fuel has risen 61% during the same timeframe.
The total number of bids initially accepted by this round includes:
Northeast: 56 million pounds of milk; 30 farms accepted; 2,855 number of cows; 17 bred heifers
Southeast: 68 million pounds of milk; 38 farms accepted; 4,228 number of cows; 172 bred heifers
Midwest: 70 million pounds of milk; 76 farms accepted; 4,124 number of cows; 32 bred heifers
Southwest: 84 million pounds of milk; 36 farms accepted; 5,189 number of cows; 36 bred heifers
West: 162 million pounds of milk; 29 farms accepted; 9,078 number of cows; 101 bred heifers