Potential for Segregating Milk: Herd Differences in Milk Value for Fluid and Five Manufactured Products

Abstract

Herd differences in value of milk for fluid use, nonfat dry milk, and Cheddar, Swiss, Mozzarella, and cottage cheeses were determined. Data were 1988 herd average records from the National Cooperative Dairy Herd Improvement Program that included milk, fat, and protein yields from 50,608 herds (3.8million cows) that produced 28.8 billion kg of milk. Values of annual yield were calculated both on a per cow and total herd basis for fluid milk based on skim and milk fat pricing and for each of the five manufactured dairy products based on end product pricing. Mean value of annual yield was $1961 per cow and $145,700 per herd. Effect of milk pricing on yield value was similar among cheeses. Largest differences in yield value were between Cheddar cheese and fluid milk. Differences between herds in annual yield value for Cheddar cheese compared with skim and milk fat pricing ranged from –$297 to $123 per cow and from –$306,800 to $91,000 for total herd income. Within-county SD were 68 to 75% as large as overall SD, which suggests that milk segregation might be feasible with little additional hauling cost.