Production Cutback Plan May Give Relief to Maryland's Dairy Farmers.

By Gus G. Sentementes, The Baltimore Sun Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

May 29--Faced with wholesale milk prices that are at a 25-year low, Maryland's dairy farmers could see some relief over the next year under a plan by the National Milk Producers Federation to boost prices by trimming cattle herds and cutting back the nation's milk production.

The plan -- called Cooperatives Working Together -- could help boost the wholesale price of milk by 9 percent over the next 12 months, said Christopher Galen, the federation's vice president of communications.

Dairy farmers in Maryland and throughout the Northeast won't be expected to reduce production significantly under the voluntary plan -- the greatest …