FEBRUARY MILK PRICES SLIP, AGAIN
The United States Department of Agriculture has published the February commodity price for raw milk paid to farmers in the Northeast, and the price comes in almost 7% lower than it was in January.
The actual price paid to farmers can vary drastically depending upon shipping costs, amount of milk produced, and the amount of butterfat and other solids in the milk.
February’s Statistical Uniform Price comes in at $15.80 per 100 pounds of milk shipped to the processing centers. That’s 11¢ less per 100 weight than it was in January.
Farmers in the St. Albans / Swanton area receive a lesser price of $14.95 after all the adjustments are made. That statistical price is calculated based on a 3.5% butterfat content, 2.99% protein content, and 5.69% remaining solids content. In actuality, the average butterfat content came in at 4.11% in February, and proteins came in at 3.12%, according to the USDA.
The USDA requires that producers be paid no later than Wednesday, March 18th.
The USDA reports that 2.1 Billions pounds of milk was produced by farmers in the Northeast Region in February. That’s 200 Million pounds less than what was produced in January.
The statistical price of milk was $17.26 per hundredweight in December and $18.27 per hundredweight in November.
