Low Milk Prices Trouble Local Dairy Farmers

With milk production costs currently exceeding the selling price, local dairy farmers are facing an uncertain future. State Department of Agriculture Secretary Dennis Wolff says the issue is a matter of supply and demand, with fewer manufactured goods being exported. These exported manufactured goods include butter, cheese and powdered milk. More than half of the milk produced in the United States goes in these types of products. Therefore, there is a milk surplus domestically, resulting in the plummeting prices that have lasted for three months now. Without a helping hand, Wolff says more dairy farmers may close, resulting in a changing and shrinking dairy infrastructure.