Dairy Plans to Cull 30,000 Cows

The National Milk Producers Federation said its Cooperatives Working Together program will begin soon. The Federation

convinced the owners of more than 70 percent of the U.S. fluid-milk production to support the voluntary, producer-funded program to increase milk demand and decrease production by 1.2 billion pounds. Cooperatives Working Together will use a 5 cents/cwt. contribution from participating dairy producers to implement the program over a 12-month period. The money (estimated at $60 million) will be used for dairy-product export assistance, herd retirement and production reduction.

The original plan would have sent an extra 125,000 head of dairy cattle to harvest. The new proposal will target about 30,000 head for early retirement — slightly more than the number of cows harvested daily in the United States, of which nearly 50 percent are dairy cows. Economists believe selling the extra animals over 12 months will have a minimal effect on the beef market.  NCBA will continue to monitor the program.