Land O’Lakes (LOL) has submitted a request for hearing to the California Department of Agriculture last week that would increase the current cheese price minimum by $1/cwt, according to analysis by the Milk Producers Council.
The proposal would be a “more equitable sharing of whey market values” and update make allowance formulas, says Tom Wegner, LOL director of economics and dairy policy.
The request includes three proposed changes:
• Update the whey portion of the Class 4b price, which is currently fixed at a 25¢/cwt value. LOL is proposing to increase the whey portion any time the average monthly Western dry whey value exceeds 24.5¢/cwt. This change would have resulted in a 74¢/cwt bump in Class 4b prices in April. The value would change as whey prices fluctuate.
• Reduce the f.o.b. price adjuster for cheese from $0.0252/lb to $0.0018, thereby increasing the Class 4b price by $0.236/cwt.
• Reduce the cheese make allowance from $0.1988/lb to $0.1966, thereby increasing the Class 4b price by $0.0222/cwt.
For LOL’s complete proposal, click here.
