MARKETS
National pooling talks to start
N
egotiations have begun in earnest to establish a national all-milk pool that could result in dairy farmers from every province sharing all markets and revenues across the country. At the recent Canadian Milk Supply Management Committee (CMSMC) meeting in Ottawa, provincial representatives ratified a P10 negotiating mandate. It set an accelerated negotiating schedule for the next six months.
The negotiating committee will submit progress reports to the CMSMC but will report officially to the provincial signatories of the National Milk Marketing Plan, according to a report from the meeting. Last spring, the CMSMC struck a committee to draft terms of reference for the negotiations. That move was in response to a report from the Canadian Dairy Commission (CDC) and Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC)
on national pooling after extensive consultations with all provinces. Progress on negotiating the national pool could be reported at the next CMSMC meeting early October in Prince Edward Island.
Market growth slows
While overall demand remains strong, dairy markets are growing at a slower rate than average for most products. Retail sales data from the ACNeil-
P5 and Western Milk Pool blend prices*
The graph below shows the 12-month blend price for the P5 provinces and the Western Milk Pool (WMP).
*There is a two-month lag reporting these figures.
Solids non-fat to butterfat (SNF-BF) ratio
This graph shows Ontario’s SNF-BF ratio for the last 12 months in relation to Ontario’s target SNF-BF ratio of 2.2840.
78 76 Blend price in $/hL 74 72 70 68 WMP $76.11 P5 $74.02
2.45 2.4 SNF-BF Ratio 2.35 2.3 2.25 2.2 2.15 2.3349
July 2010 Aug 2010 Sept 2010 Oct 2010 Nov 2010 Dec 2010 Jan 2010 Feb 2011 Mar 2011 Apr 2011 May 2011 June 2011
P5 blend price WMP blend price
Ontario’s SNF-BF ratio Target SNF-BF ratio
44 | August 2011 | MilkPRODUCER
July 2010 Aug 2010 Sept 2010 Oct 2010 Nov 2010 Dec 2010 Jan 2011 Feb 2011 Mar 2011 Apr 2011 May 2011 June 2011
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Milk Producer - August 2011