Butter-Powder Tilt is the price adjustment strategy in

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, which requires

USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...

to support the farm price of milk at $9.90 per cwt. by standing ready to purchase surplus butter, cheese and nonfat dry milk when wholesale prices for these commodities fall below administratively set levels. The

2002 farm bill The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, also known as the 2002 Farm Bill, includes ten titles, addressing a great variety of issues related to agriculture, ecology, energy, trade, and nutrition. This act has been superseded by the 2007 ...

(P.L. 107–171, Sec. 1501) allows USDA to adjust the government purchase price of butter and nonfat dry milk twice annually in order to better manage its inventories of surplus milk products and minimize

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

costs. However, whenever the purchase price of one commodity is reduced by USDA, it must increase the purchase price of the other commodity so that the overall support price of milk remains at $9.90 per cwt. This price adjustment is referred to as the butter-powder tilt.

References

*{{CRS, article = Report for Congress: Agriculture: A Glossary of Terms, Programs, and Laws, 2005 Edition, url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110810044532/http://ncseonline.org/nle/crsreports/05jun/97-905.pdf, author= Jasper Womach United States Department of Agriculture Dairy farming in the United States Agricultural subsidies