Dairy reporter predicts milk production drop, shares advice

A Wisconsin dairy magazine publisher advised local farmers, some of whom struggle to pay their bills, on strategies to improve earnings during a local appearance this week.
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Almost 40 people joined Peter L. Hardin, editor and publisher of The Milkweed, at the Ridgeview Inn on Tuesday for a town hall-style discussion about issues plaguing the dairy industry.
A key concern shared among many producers nationwide has been the international rise in milk production flooding the market, causing their earnings to fall below the cost of production for four years.
Unlike previous years, Mr. Hardin forecast a drop in domestic milk production because of expected poor crop yields, which can reduce cows’ milk output, on farms in central eastern and Midwestern states, caused by overabundant precipitation.
Years of low milk prices have also forced farms nationwide to close, with about 7 percent of all farms in both Wisconsin and Iowa shutting their doors this year, Hardin said. A reduction in farms would cause a decline in U.S. milk production.
“After four years of low milk prices, there are a lot of farmers stretching beyond their ability to continue,” Mr. Hardin said.
The loss of dairy farms has not escaped Northern New York. Brien L. Tabolt, general manager of Lowville Dairy Producers, said his cooperative lost five members in the past month and a half. LouAnn Parish, a Lorraine farmer, said her cooperative, Agri-Mark, lost 70 member farms in the past year, and a few local farms in Lewis County, Massena, Moira and Herkimer recently closed.
“We can talk and talk and talk, but we need to stop talking and we’ve gotta start doing,” she said.
The dairy economics reporter advised producers of outside influences he argued should be overturned to boost their earnings.
Mr. Hardin argued that too little of the dairy checkoff, a mandatory 15 cents per hundredweight payment from farmers used to market dairy products, is spent toward promoting butter products, with butter content in milk garnering much of their earnings.
A push from former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, who now heads the U.S. Dairy Export Council, to export 20 percent of U.S. dairy goods was also contested by Mr. Hardin. He said cooperatives should expand domestic markets to address a need filled by international producers, including Irish butter processors.
Mr. Hardin also said local dairy farmers should distance themselves from the national cooperative Dairy Farmers of America, which he accused of oppressing the market, and applauded local cooperatives’ efforts to secure their own contracts with processors. Oneida Madison Milk Producers Co-op recently secured a contract to supply its milk directly to HP Hood, Mr. Hardin said, and Lowville Producers and Jefferson Bulk Milk Cooperative Inc. have been working to establish their own contracts with Kraft Heinz.
“DFA actually helped us get that contract,” Mr. Tabolt said. “We and Jeff Bulk did get accepted, but we have not gotten the contract yet.”
Mr. Hardin also encouraged farmers to continue maintaining milk quality, breed for components, use milk for fertilizer to save money and hold onto young stock, which should eventually rise in value.
Kirk Herse, a retired dairy farmer from Lowville, said while Mr. Hardin covered notable topics, several farmers still need to learn about systemic issues that inhibit their ability to cover their costs.
“It’s a good presentation, but we’ve just really got to address the price of milk and supply,” Ms. Parish said. “He thinks there’s going to be a silver lining here. I don’t think so.”
Tips from Peter Hardin, editor and publisher of the Milkweed:
■ Check crops for mold and toxins after heavy rainfall this summer and fall.
■ Use milk to help fertilize fields to save money.
■ Never lose sight of milk quality, which continues to attract processors.
■ Push President Donald J. Trump to lift steel tariffs from countries with retaliatory tariffs on dairy.
■ Local cooperatives should form milk marketing deals with producers without middlemen.
■ Focus more on expanding domestic sales than increasing exports.

Mirá También

Así lo expresó Domingo Possetto, secretario de la seccional Rafaela, quien además, afirmó que a los productores «habitualmente los ignoran los gobiernos». Además, reconoció la labor de los empresarios de las firmas locales y aseguró que están «esperanzados» con la negociación entre SanCor y Adecoagro.

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