Production: Regional
Production, pool volume, per cow production and cow numbers
The data do
not indicate that production market-wide has increased in response to
the over-order producer payment, much less in a market.
Data from the NASS show that
milk production in the New England states was 4.56 billion pounds in 1997
and 4.59 billion pounds in 2000. This
describes an overall increase of less than one half of one percent. During the same period, milk production in the United States as a
whole increased by 7.41 percent. (Attachment
2m).
Within
New England, production has declined fairly steadily between 1982 and 2000 in each state except for Vermont. Production
has increased in Vermont, but it has not been enough to offset the declines in
the other states. New England
production is lower overall in 2000 than it was in the early 1980’s, although
it has held fairly constant during the years in which the price regulation was
in effect. (Attachments 2n,
2o, 2p).
Similarly,
the amount of milk pooled under the Compact has been fairly constant over the three full years, 1998-2000, in which the price regulation has been in effect.
Consistent with the regional production data, the amount of total milk pooled in
the New England states has dropped slightly, and the amount of milk coming into
the pool from New York has correspondingly increased slightly. (Attachments
2q and 2r).
Data
describing fewer farms combined with a stable overall rate of production over
time also serve to describe the circumstance of increased production per cow, as
indicated in Attachment
2s. This description is also consistent with the data
indicating that the total number of cows in New England is decreasing. (Attachment
2t) and the earlier determination that there is no trend indicating an
increase in herd averages.
In summary, farmers have continued to
supply the demands of the market, adjusting production only as necessary,
apparently, in response to the attrition in farms.
There is no indication of a market-distorting increase in production
responding to the presence of the price regulation.