Milk Cost of Production Estimates for October, November, and December 2011

In July 2009, Connecticut Public Act 09-229 established an agricultural sustainability account to provide financial assistance to Connecticut milk producers during times when the federal milk pay price falls below a minimum sustainable monthly cost of production (COP). This legislation mandates that the Commissioner of Agriculture make payments to Connecticut dairy farmers on a quarterly basis. To determine whether payments are necessary to comply with the legislation, Public Act 09-229 defines the minimum sustainable monthly COP as eighty-two percent of the monthly average COP for a New England state, as calculated by the Economic Research Service (ERS) of the United States Department of Agriculture. To comply with state legislation, the Commissioner of Agriculture has requested that The Zwick Center for Food and Resource Policy in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of Connecticut provide estimates of the monthly COP for a New England State based on data and variables published by the USDA. Since the PA 09-229, Vermont’s milk COP has served as the benchmark for Connecticut’s milk COP. This report is a follow up on previous reports for 2011 quarters two and three that use the current USDA methodology and continues the Vermont and Maine milk COP estimates previously calculated by the USDA’s ERS.1 This report presents milk COP estimates and prices for quarter four of 2011