cbcr
Well-known member
Here is a link to the incentive program: http://www.komu.com/news/missouri-dairy-revitalization-act-brings-high-hopes-for-farmers/
In the story, it mentions that Missouri is a milk deficit state and we are having to bring milk in from outside of the state for processors.
The prices for milk vary too, here locally the price is from $3.36 per gallon and up. While attending the World Dairy Expo, we bought a gallon of milk in Wisconsin for $2.26 and saw a sign afterward for another store that the price there was $1.98.
It is true that dairies are getting larger and expanding.
The cost for replacements and cows can vary too. If I were starting out in dairy today, I would look more at buying a herd from a producer that is wanting to retire. If buying from other sources, I would definitely look at crossbred cows, (Fleckvieh, Montbeliarde, Viking Reds). These cows are producing right with their Holstein herdmates, but they hold up with better health as well as fertility. The Fleckvieh as a breed is the second largest breed in the World in numbers behind the Holstein.
We represent as a registry, the "Non-Traditional" breeds, and we are seeing several of the top Holstein herds, (many have bulls in bull studs), now beginning to cross and upgrade to purebred status with these breeds. On the recent August genetic evaluations, in looking at the Elite Cow List, our breeds represented 62% of the cows on the list excluding Holstein and Jersey. Also it was interesting to see that the top cow for Net Merit $ by every breed was a crossbred cow.
In the story, it mentions that Missouri is a milk deficit state and we are having to bring milk in from outside of the state for processors.
The prices for milk vary too, here locally the price is from $3.36 per gallon and up. While attending the World Dairy Expo, we bought a gallon of milk in Wisconsin for $2.26 and saw a sign afterward for another store that the price there was $1.98.
It is true that dairies are getting larger and expanding.
The cost for replacements and cows can vary too. If I were starting out in dairy today, I would look more at buying a herd from a producer that is wanting to retire. If buying from other sources, I would definitely look at crossbred cows, (Fleckvieh, Montbeliarde, Viking Reds). These cows are producing right with their Holstein herdmates, but they hold up with better health as well as fertility. The Fleckvieh as a breed is the second largest breed in the World in numbers behind the Holstein.
We represent as a registry, the "Non-Traditional" breeds, and we are seeing several of the top Holstein herds, (many have bulls in bull studs), now beginning to cross and upgrade to purebred status with these breeds. On the recent August genetic evaluations, in looking at the Elite Cow List, our breeds represented 62% of the cows on the list excluding Holstein and Jersey. Also it was interesting to see that the top cow for Net Merit $ by every breed was a crossbred cow.