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KENTUCKY
November - December 2017 w w w. k y d a i r y. o r g
Milk Matters Dairy Leaders Commend USDA Progress for Expanding School Milk Options Find out more on page 11
Kentucky Dairy Partners and Young Dairy Producers Conference Find out more on page 16-17
MILK Program Update By Maury Cox
T
he first premium checks for the NEW MILK Program finally hit KY dairy farmer’s mailboxes in the October settlement check. The premiums were retroactive and based on production and quality numbers from milk produced in April to the end of June 2017. It has been an arduous process to say the least and we are still working hard to get all the “bugs” out to make sure there are no mistakes or miscalculations. We appreciate your patience. We are also checking with producers to validate whether premiums are being matched by the MILK Program partners. This is a requirement of the Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund Board. The new program has significant changes from the initial MILK Program. The most prominent is the removal of the increase in production factor required to receive premiums. Although Kentucky is still listed as a milk deficit area, it is not the case for many other regions of the nation and that excess milk still competes with locally produced milk to service processors in our region. A new factor focusing on percent of herd somatic cell counts in part replaced the increased production qualifier. This new parameter requires participating farmers to take individual cow samples to receive premiums. These incentives are based on percent of herd with SCC below 200,000 in a range from 85% down to 65%. To qualify a producer must DHIA test a minimum of six (6) times a year and at least once (1) per quarter. The first tier of the program focuses on bulk tank SCC and
Preliminary Incubation Counts or PIC. The total program qualifiers are listed in the charts below. Chart #1-Premiums are based on SCC – PIC Average for the month. (Max per producer is $6,000 per year)
Total Premium SCC PIC $0.25/cwt <200,000 <20,000 $0.13/cwt 200,001 - 250,000 <20,000 $0.08/cwt 250,001 - 300,000 <20,000 Chart #2-SCC cell count by percentage of herd < 200,000 SCC. (Max per producer is $6,000 per year) Total Premium $0.25/cwt $0.13/cwt $0.08/cwt
% of cows 85% 75% 65%
SCC < 200,000 <200,000 <200,000
We believe the MILK Program has been instrumental in increasing production on KY dairy farms helping KY rank first in the nation in increased production per cow over the past 5 years. The increase in quality produced milk from KY dairy farms has been a result of several driving forces but the MILK Program has also played a part there as well. These accomplishments were made possible by the financial incentives offered by the KADF, the milk marketing partners and the hard work of KDDC.