Mailbox Price

February “mailbox prices” for farm milk are out. Mailbox prices are the amount per hundredweight after adding bonuses and subtracting deductions in the farm milk check. Within the federal milk market order system, the fall from February 2008 ranged from $14.97 in Florida to $10.03 in New Mexico. The average mailbox price for all federal orders was $11.61 in February 2009 compared with $19.03 in February 2008.

For California the mailbox price was $9.80 versus $17.05 in February 2008.

Congress, in the 2008 Farm Bill was proud as could be for providing a “safety net” of $9.90 per hundredweight. Since, the Farm Bill changed the name to “dairy product” price support; Congress had no intent of actually putting a safety net under farm milk prices.

Notice though, with the MILC program none of the “big guys” in dairy processing have had to go to Washington DC for handouts.