How does the Herd Retirement program work?
CWT monitors a number of economic indicators, or benchmarks, in determining the best time to conduct a Herd Retirement program. One of these benchmarks is the All Milk Price. In 2007, the CWT Program Committee raised the benchmark price $2.00, to $16.00 per hundredweight, to reflect the significant increase in fuel and feed costs dairy farmers have experienced. When the benchmarks indicate that CWT should act, CWT management announces a timeline for individual producers to submit bids to “retire” all milking and dry cows from their dairy. Bids are only accepted from producers who have contributed 10 per hundredweight from the beginning of the year, either directly or through his/her co-op. Selected bidders are then required to send their cows to slaughter.
