Benefit of CWT documented; Farmland Preservation Task Force meeting
Washington Ag Today November 20, 2009 An independent analysis has quantified the benefits dairy farmers have received this year because of the herd retirement efforts of Cooperatives Working Together. Chris Galen at the National Milk Producers Federation explains. Galen: “The findings of the analysis show that CWT has enhanced every farmers milk check by about $1.50 per hundredweight in 2009. Actually that figure will probably be higher after we complete our third herd retirement round this year. We are in the middle of taking out about 26-thousand cows right now. So when the final tally is done that figure will probably be higher.” The USDA reports milk production in Washington during October was down nine-tenths of a percent from October last year. There were five thousand fewer cows but they produced 20 pounds more of milk than in October of 2008. The state Office of Farmland Preservation Task Force will hold their next meeting in Spokane Valley on Wednesday, December 2, 2009. The public is invited to attend the meeting, which will be held at the Mirabeau Park Hotel and Convention Center – North 1100 Sullivan Road. The meeting will start at 9:00 am and conclude at 4pm. Topics on the Task Force agenda include a presentation by Northwest Farm Credit Services on issues related to farm credit and farm transition. Other items include discussions on state efforts to enhance and prioritize agriculture in the State of Washington. ? I’m Bob Hoff and that’s Washington Ag Today on the Northwest Ag Information Network.
The analysis was done by Dr. Scott Brown of the University of Missouri. Galen says last year - CWT - a voluntary dairy farmer-funded self-help program - improved farm-level milk prices by about 90-cents a hundredweight.
