Are small dairy farms doomed?
Small dairy farms are shutting down shop because they can't afford to operate any longer. What can be done?
Photo: ILoveButter/Flickr Prices paid to farmers per hundredweight (about 12 gallons) have fallen from nearly $20 a year ago to less than $11 in June. Earlier this month, the federal government raised the support price by $1.25, but that is only a drop in the proverbial bucket. It costs a farmer about $18 to produce a hundredweight of milk. In Vermont, where I live, that translates to a loss of $100 per cow per month. So far this year, 33 farms have ceased operation in this one tiny state.Meanwhile, the price you and I pay for milk in the grocery store has stayed about the same. Someone is clearly pocketing the difference. Perhaps that explains why profits at Dean Foods — the nation’s largest processor and shipper of dairy products, with more than 50 regional brands — have skyrocketed. The company announced earnings of $75.3 million in the first quarter of 2009, more than twice the amount it made during the same quarter last year ($30.8 million). (Dean countered that “current supply and demand is contributing to the low price environment.”)
| Previous Post Weaver goes to the White House | Next Post Cooking by twecipe |
Comments
I just discovered your article...I grew up in Wisconsin, and have some relatives that were once dairy farmers. They, too, have suffered in the last decade. It's hard to know what can be done, and I share your guilt. But by writing about it, by educating people about corporate greed, you're doing a service to farmers everywhere (albeit a small one). So, keep up the good work, and thanks.
If you run a small dairy farm, get out. We just did, and it is a huge relief. Don't mortgage the farm to continue operations. If you already have done so, you need to sit down with an accountant or the farm's book keeper and try to figure out if your outside income can keep the farm afloat for a few more months, until prices recover. If not, get a bankruptcy lawyer and try to save your home.
Please, read my family’s story.
I want to share my story, about my family’s small dairy farm. This farm was first started in 1978 by my grandfather (Charles Bell) and my grandmother (Virble Bell). The farm was successful in every way. They even were awarded “Dairy Farmers Of The Year” in 1986. They graduated from Grade C milk to Grade A milk. As the years passed the farm was then left to my father (Everett Bell) in 1999. During the last decade, the prices for feed have increased,.... More
My family has been in the dairy business for about 90 years.You cant run a dairy today like its 1920 and expect to make a living.The mom and pop grocery stores,shoe stores and every mom and pop store you can think of started vanishing 40 years ago yet people think they can milk 50 cows and make a living.Sad but true.You must change with the time.
Response to Milkmaker:
I think it's okay to tell a business that doesn't have a web site that it needs to change with the times. A newspaper needs to change with the times and go online for convenience. Car manufacturers need to increase their miles per gallon, but a FARM? I don't see what is inconvenient about a farm. The government just needs to put their handouts in different hands. People just need to discover other places to shop. Just give it time, and don't assume every.... More
grocery store in my town is thriving. Gives me hope that these small dairy farms can thrive, too.
