Dairy Herd Network – By the end of 2012, an estimated 100 of California’s dairies will shut their doors for good ― thanks to high feed cost, not enough time to recover from the disastrous year of 2009, and the state’s milk-pricing system.
Monday, California’s Class 4b milk-pricing formula was the focus of a Wall Street Journal article. For more on that article,click here.
Many dairy farmers don’t like the 4b formula and would like to see the value of whey changed so it more closely aligns with the federal order system.
However, the milk-pricing system is just part of the problem.
Leslie Butler, an economist at University of California at Davis, suggests that aligning California’s milk-for-cheese prices with those on the federal level may not be enough to save the struggling industry.
High feed cost associated with this year’s historic drought alone has driven many dairies to the brink of bankruptcy.
“Supply is shrinking here because milk per cow is going down — feed costs are so high here,” Butler told The Wall Street Journal.
For more on the Class 4b situation in California, click here.
