Dairying in this economy

Valmai · #21 06/03/09, 03:46 AM

I heard on the news here that the US Govt was reintroducing dairy subsidies.

Jennifer L. · #22 06/03/09, 07:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ozark_jewels

We are in an area that makes much better pasture than hay/crop land. So a lot of hay is trucked in. Some dairies actually operate on only about 20 acres and buy in *all* their hay(though that is not common). Most do mainly pasture and grow as much hay as they can. The lucky ones can grow all their hay. With many dairies operating on 60-100 acres, it can be hard to grow all the hay needed for 60-100 cows, even with intensive grazing. And with the price of land still high(especially good hay ground), its very hard to afford buying more land right now.
We usually have a couple months of very dry weather in the summer, nothing much grows. That dramatically decreases the amount of hay that can be grown in dry years. Last year was exceptionally wet......this one has been so far. We look to be heading into a dry spell now.

Thanks, Emily. It really sounds like an easy way to dairy if you can get good hay. I always hated haying taking time away from the cows for three weeks. Around here hay grows really well--150 years ago they shipped to the NYC hay markets. And for years it was small farms right and left. Now it's mainly bigger farms and all of the hay land from the smaller farms quite often gets bought up by the mulch people and trucked to Southern PA. So if you get mushrooms in the store they quite likely are grown in good part with hay from NNYS.

It can get dry here in the summer, too. Last year was WAY off in that respect. Was wet all year.

Jennifer

sammyd · #23 06/03/09, 08:26 AM

Quote:

I heard on the news here that the US Govt was reintroducing dairy subsidies.

They have been. Once the price drops below 13 something a cwt they start a thing called MILC. It is based on the milk price somewhere in New England and pays 40% of the difference between the pricve and the 13 something level, this year they have feed cost factors as well. It pays up to a million and a half pounds I believe.
But if it's costing you 14/cwt to operate and you're only getting 13/cwt even with MILC it doesn't take long to have problems.

Quote:

It seems amazing to me that dairies are getting only $15 per hundred weight,

Only people getting 15/cwt are organic dairies that make more than their quotas. They get 30+/cwt for quota milk. Non organic..less than 10/cwt before MILC (according to the folks I've talked to)

Valmai · #24 06/03/09, 07:35 PM

So 1cwt equals approx 45 litres? This equals 33c per ltr? NZ dairy farmers make between 48c and 60c per ltr and still can afford McMansions. Perhaps grass based dairying and 'economies of scale' are what US dairy farmers need to look at. Dont wish to sound like a know it all, or smug, I'm just trying to offer a part solution.