TIMES PRETTY GOOD FOR AREA FARMERS
Thursday, October 11th, 2007 -- 12:04 PM
The milk price is up, but that doesn't necessarily mean dairy farmers are getting rich.According to the USDA, the September Class III milk price is $20.07 per hundredweight, up a whopping $7.78 above September of last year.
"It's not as good as it would seem when you say $8," maintains Maria Bendixen, a dairy and livestock agent with the Clark County UW-Extension office.
A more telling figure is the milk-feed price ratio, which takes into account the associated with producing milk, Bendixen explains.
"That normal range on that is anywhere from 2.5 to 3.0. Right now, with the good milk prices, it's 3.21. Last year in September, it was 2.61. Obviously we're doing better than last year, but it's not far above that normal range," she notes.
While there's likely a number of factors leading to the good milk price, experts says a byproduct is actually helping a lot.
"It used to be that whey was just a waste product, now it's become a really high-priced commodity for protein," according to Bendixen, who says a lot of whey is being sent overseas.
Even with the price of milk high, experts anticipate the decline in the number of dairy farms will continue, although the number of dairy cows may be stabilizing.
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