Milk quota prices have dropped through the 20ppl while leased quota is trading at 4ppl. This is about a third of the average price that would have been paid for it in April 1997. Raw milk was trading at over 23ppl at that time. The drop in quota prices makes it more difficult for producers to get out of the market ­ even if they want to ­ because they will lose heavily on working capital. Fortunately for those who own land, values have held up better than quota, even if the buyers are not all agricultural. {{PROVISIONS }}

Topics