Milk price drop of 50 percent hurting US dairy farmers

Milk prices have crashed 50 percent from record highs of last summer, hurting dairy producers in the US grievously.

Many producers will not make it if prices stay low through 2009, and several dairy operators have already decided to sell their herds and leave the business, said dairy farmer Walt Moore.

Dairy operations across the US have been negatively impacted as prices drop. The number of dairy cows sent for slaughter has increased by about 20 percent from last year, as farmers liquidate their herds and sell at low prices. The financial crisis also caused credits and loan extension to be much less accessible to farmers.

The USDA is providing emergency aid, but the National Milk Producers Federation warned that thousands of farms could be lost this year if there are insufficient federal efforts.