April 1, 2009

Dairy farmers across the US are having a hard time due to a sharp drop in milk prices along with higher feed costs and lower exports.

This will be a long and painful year as milk prices continue to decline, and have dropped 35-45 percent from a year ago, said the National Milk Producers Federation, which represents many of the dairy marketing cooperatives serving the US.

Increased expenses and the recession have made the current situation worse, said Tony Banks, assistant director of the commodity marketing department for the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation.

Input costs for feed, seed fertiliser crop protectants are still at or near all-time highs, having increased by 150-300 percent, Banks said.

US dairy importers such as China and India have stopped making purchases as a result of domestic economic issues, he said.

Banks said improving weather conditions in Europe, Australia and New Zealand have also allowed them increase exports, which in turn hurts US dairy farmers.

Dairy farms in Virginia have declined to 716 as of March 5, from 1,119 in 1995, according to the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.