Cooperatives Working Together (CWT)’s field auditors have begun visiting the 388 farms that have been tentatively accepted in the program’s seventh herd retirement, as they initiate the process this week of removing nearly 103,000 cows that produced two billion pounds of milk last year.
CWT officials released more detailed information about the size and scope of the self-help program’s largest-ever herd retirement program. 60 percent of the farms selected are located east of the Mississippi River, while 79 percent of the 103,000 cows to be removed come from the Western and Southwest regions of the U.S. 81 percent of the milk removed will come from those two regions, a portion slightly higher than in the six previous CWT rounds [see chart below].
Jim Tillison, Chief Operating Officer of CWT, put the scope of this herd retirement round in perspective by estimating that “the amount of milk we’re removing is equivalent to eliminating the future production of 200 million pounds of cheddar cheese per year.”
“All dairy farmers are stressed economically right now. However, the number of cows bid in this round by producers in the West and Southwest is an indication that their financial stress is particularly acute given where their milk prices and input costs are,” Tillison said.
Farmers had submitted a total of 535 herd retirement bids last month to CWT, and CWT was able to accept the nearly three-quarters of them. CWT is also removing approximately 1,000 bred heifers, which is an option under the program.
The totals for each region include:
Northeast: 69 Total bids received; 42 Total bids accepted; 7,287 Total cows offered; 5,156 Total cows accepted; 139.5 million pounds – Total milk offered; 104.7 million pounds – Total milk accepted; 5% Milk accepted; 5% Cows accepted.
States in region: CT, DE, ME, MA, MD, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT
Southeast: 72 Total bids received; 56 Total bids accepted; 8,954 Total cows offered; 7,042 Total cows accepted; 145.7 million pounds – Total milk offered; 117.3 million pounds – Total milk accepted; 6% Milk accepted; 7% Cows accepted.
States in region: AL, AR, GA, KY, LA, MO, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV
Midwest: 178 Total bids received; 134 Total bids accepted; 11,754 Total cows offered; 8,595 Total cows accepted; 208.0 million pounds – Total milk offered; 154.1 million pounds – Total milk accepted; 8% Milk accepted; 8% Cows accepted.
States in region: IL, IN, IA, MI, MN, ND, OH, SD, WI
Southwest: 89 Total bids received; 68 Total bids accepted; 62,221 Total cows offered; 43,607 Total cows accepted; 1.13 billion pounds – Total milk offered; 862.8 million pounds – Total milk accepted; 43% Milk accepted; 42% Cows accepted.
States in region: AR, CO, KS, NE, NM, OK, TX
West: 127 Total bids received; 88 Total bids accepted; 71,591 Total cows offered; 38,498 Total cows accepted; 1.34 billion pounds – Total milk offered; 761.1 million pounds – Total milk accepted; 38% Milk accepted; 37% Cows accepted.
States in region: CA, ID, MT, NV, OR, UT, WA, WY
Total: 535 Total bids received; 388 Total bids accepted; 161,807 Total cows offered; 102,898 Total cows accepted; 2.96 billion pounds – Total milk offered; 2.0 billion pounds – Total milk accepted; 100% Milk accepted; 100% Cows accepted.