milk prices

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Bad, isn't it? No two people agree on what the market will do in the near or far out future, but I have heard one thing - watch California. I hear tell they're having trouble, dumping milk in the manure lagoons for one. And the majority of the cows out there freshened late winter/early spring, so they've peaked and they're on their way down. The stories I've heard say that only when California cuts their production (deliberately or accidently) will our prices go up.

Heifer prices aren't the greatest either; I ought to pick up a few more little calves. :lol: Earliest I'll be selling springers will be this winter and next spring, so I'm not too concerned. That's a long way out.
 
come on ladies toughen up.ive fought the same low milk prices your fighting now.but now yall have a safty net that went in effect in late 2001 or 2002.yall have the $16/100 kick in when milk prices fall.an get that subidy pricce for up to 2.4 million pounds.i never had that ever.i rode all the crashes out.the 70s 80s an 90s.an finally gave up when cows hitt $2000 for fresh cows.even been though $10 milk an $10 feed at the sametime.an lived though it.would still be milking today if i had yalls safty net.but that went into effect after i gave up.
 
Average person around here right now is getting $9-10.50/cwt. Not much.
 
The MILC program what a joke! You think that by any means makes up for the money we are losing each month, I don't think so. Yah they say submit the paperwork, but as of yet the FSA office doesn't even have the computer program to run the program, and they cut the amounts down this time around. Someone like me, a small producer, even .80 cent for MILC payment ain't going to amount too much.

If it was only the milk prices being low, 11.22 a hundred, but the diesel is high, we are getting a diesel surcharge taken out of our checks, plus it effects everything, groceries, supplies, so us dairy farmers are paying triple for our diesel. Plus the drought we had, now we got rain here, but it coolled off, so the grass hasn't grown any in 2 weeks here, so today we had to go out and buy more round bales, pay more money. The high diesel also makes grain prices high, a person can only do what they can do.

I started out when grain was high, but milk prices were high too, in the mid 90's, I've seen the high highs, and the low lows, and the biggest thing I don't like about dairying is the financial part of it. It is very, very stressful at times. I can surely see why more young people do not want to get into it. In saying that though I do really like it, the animals, being my own boss, living in the country and farm life is a great place to raise the kids, teaches them a whole lot more than kids who live in the cities that I know for sure. So yes, we have to grin and bear it, and hope for the best.

ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING!!!!
 
Got out of dairy business 18 months ago. Had to get off that roller coaster! :mad: :mad: Neighbor told me today he was being paid $11.00 gross. Paying $1.50 hauling, with other deducts makes less than $10 milk. Most studies say it cost at least $15 to produce 100 lbs of milk. He also told me he is paying over $300 per acre just for fertilizer to plant corn for silage. How is that going to pay!
 
the bottomline is this yall are still getting paid 60s an 70s price for milk in 2006.everything has gone up over time while milk has stayed the same,if milk prices kept up with the times milk price would be well over $20/100.then everyone would be jumping back into milking cows,but hey you dont do it to get rich.you do it b/c you love it.if the start up costs wasnt so high id jump back into milking cows.but building a new barn and going with used equipment your looking at $1.2 million including cows.
 
bigbull...that's exactly what my former boss used to tell me.

Current employer is getting 10.80, last I heard.
 
well heres the thing.i know the dairy business like the back of my hand.an sometimes no matter what you get sick an tired an give up.fact is im a diehard dairy an cattleman.you may not like what i have to say or agree with me an thats ok.but 1 thing i dont try todo is steer ppl rong.
 
bigbull338":2mnjb82m said:
the bottomline is this yall are still getting paid 60s an 70s price for milk in 2006.everything has gone up over time while milk has stayed the same,if milk prices kept up with the times milk price would be well over $20/100.then everyone would be jumping back into milking cows,but hey you dont do it to get rich.you do it b/c you love it.if the start up costs wasnt so high id jump back into milking cows.but building a new barn and going with used equipment your looking at $1.2 million including cows.

That is it exactly. the pay hasn't kept up with the times. Sometimes it is high, sometimes low. Personally, I think milk prices should be set at a price, say $15 a hundred and not be allowed to fall below this price. My husband works out, drives truck, if we had to rely on just the milk check, we would have been done soon after we started, 12 years ago, period!
 
How about $17? 8) I think there needs to be a "stop" as to how far they can drop. There's a reason why "America's Dairyland" is turning into empty flat barns and 1000+ cow dairies.
 
oh me here we go.better watch wich hornetts nest you kick on this deal.i know wisc an minn are losing alot of dairies.thats b/c of 2 reasons.1 is the climate an 2 the lager sized dairies.not to mention the epa regs that can kill a dairy.ill just say it outsiders coming in from other countries arnt helping matters either.an heres another thing mom an dad made it milking 80 cows.you cant do that no more.you have to milk atlest 600hd.then say you want to bring 3 sons or daughters into the dairy.then your in expand mode.cant just add 50 cows pre kid like the old days.you have to have land an facilities for atlest 4000hd milking.then you get into hiring labor.so youll be looking at 20 employees besides family. no to mention a debt load of $2000 a cow.an im pushing those figures tight.
 
I honestly dont know how any of the dairy people stay in business. I have a few friends who are still milking. Where I live, every farm used to milk. On a stretch of the local pavement that is 11 miles long, there isnt a single milk barn being used now, and there are 20 of them standing vacant. Dad started milking about 1955 and we milked up to 100 cows until we quit in 1985. The main difference now and 20 years ago is the grain price. In the early 80"s, the grain was over 15 dollars per hundred, along with the 8-9 dollar milk. There was a huge mistake made by the government in the mid-80's. They had the whole herd buyout and bought the herds and slaughtered them and paid the people in the buyout. As it turned out, the cows only brought 15-18 cents per pound on the buyout, so the money paid for selling out was less than what the cows could have been sold for if they had been sold on the open market. They lowered production temporarily, but it came right back up. What should have happened, was that a quota system be put in place. Each producer own the quota for the amount of milk they produced, minus the 10 percent over production. Then, no more milk could be produced unless a person bought the quota from someone else. This way, the production would have been in line with the demand. But, the prices would have been good and the government wouldnt have been able to break the farmers every few years to keep them from having any power over their own lives.
 
Quota system may not be the answer either. Ask the folks in Canada. It may keep market strong but sometimes you pay more for the quota than you do for the farm. If you want to bring a son into operation and add a few cows you have to buy quota. If you are young man with a dream you better be a rich young man.
 

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