Dairy producers should keep a watchful eye on the new provisions Secretary Vilsack is making on the Dairy Export Incentive Program, with allocations of 68,201 metric tons of nonfat dry milk; 21,097 metric tons of butterfat; 3,030 metric tons of various cheeses and 34 metric tons of other dairy products, as well as individual product and country allocations will be made available through Invitations for Offers. Country and region quantities may be limited by the invitation. More information can be found at Southwest Farm Press.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has begun implementing provisions of the Dairy Export Incentive Program, partly in response to the reintroduction of direct export subsidies by the European Union earlier this year.

Vilsack announced the allocations under the program for the July 2008 through June 30, 2009 period. The allocations, which are allowed under World Trade Organization rules, are designed to help U.S. dairy exporters meet prevailing world prices in areas where U.S. dairy products are not competitive due to subsidized dairy products from other countries.

“These allocations illustrate our continued support for the U.S. dairy industry, which has seen its international market shares erode, in part, due to the reintroduction of direct export subsidies by the European Union,” said Vilsack.