Source:  Rita Jane Gabbett, MEATINGPLACE.COM, 7/9/10

Cooperatives Working Together announced it has tentatively accepted 194 bids for its latest herd retirement, representing 34,442 cows and 653,893,409 pounds of milk. Farmers had submitted a total of 209 herd retirement bids to CWT.

“This latest herd retirement will push cow numbers lower still, which is what our industry needs to better align supply and demand,” said Jerry Kozak, president and CEO of the National Milk Producers Federation, which administers CWT. He noted that three CWT herd retirements last year removed 200,000 cows and were the primary reason why U.S. cow numbers dropped steeply in 2009.

Producers will be notified by July 30 if their bids were accepted. Once CWT auditors approve the accepted herds, farmers have 15 days to send their animals to a processing plant.

This is the 10th herd retirement program CWT has orchestrated since 2003.

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