According to updated numbers of Grade-A dairy permits from the Michigan Department of Agriculture & Rural Development’s (MDARD) Dairy Division, the state has lost 143 dairy farms in the last 12 months. (MGN)
According to updated numbers of Grade-A dairy permits from the Michigan Department of Agriculture & Rural Development’s (MDARD) Dairy Division, the state has lost 143 dairy farms in the last 12 months.
In addition, Michigan Farm Bureau Livestock Specialist Ernie Birchmeier says that Michigan is producing too much milk for existing processing capacity.
Michigan cows produce an average of 72.3 pounds of milk each day.
Birchmeier said a study of the numbers hint at a more troubling symptom currently haunting Michigan’s dairy industry.
“The 10 percent losses in Grade-A dairy permit licenses, contrasted with a relatively minor 1.2 percent reduction in cow numbers and less than a 1 percent reduction in total monthly production, means those cows from the 143 operations that opted to get out of milking cows, are simply being relocated to other operations, and/or, they are being displaced by freshening heifers entering the state’s dairy herd,” he said.
Source: nbc25news.com
