Milk in trouble (not the movie)

[ensho]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/12/MNIG1557P9.DTL


Business souring fast in state's dairy industry


-snip-

In six months, farmers have seen the price paid for their milk cut nearly in half, from $20 per hundred pounds of milk in June to just above $10 per hundred pounds of milk today. International demand for America's dairy products - which had soared in recent years - has dried up. And recession-conscious consumers are cutting back.

The U.S. government has stepped in to buy surplus milk, much of it from California. More than $92 million has been spent on nearly 115 million pounds of surplus nonfat dry milk.

"It's shocking where we are today," said Michael Marsh, CEO of Western United Dairymen, representing 1,000 of the state's 1,750 dairy producers. "Farmers are hemorrhaging cash. Global demand has fallen off a precipice. People are not dining out as much."

-snip-

"You can't just turn the cows off," said Marsh. "The cows need to be milked, fed and cared for. It's 24 hours a day, seven days a week."

Beginning next month, Marsh's organization will hold a series of meetings with dairy industry experts from across the globe, looking at how California can be more competitive during the recession. Planned talks range from global markets and plant capacity to working with legislators.
-snip-
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sigh

[SpiralHawk]

1. The putrid fruit of republiconomic policies

more, more, more republicon FAIL.

What a curse republicons are upon America and Americans.

[tazkcmo]

4. Ummmmm, fewer cows maybe? Duh. n/t

[Mari333]

2. make government cheese and hand it out

its damn good cheese.

[MADem]

19. And WELFARE CHEESE

Rhymes with NUCLEAR FREEZE....

I saw it on an SNL sketch, decades ago.

[rrneck]

20. That GIF in the sig line fakes me out every time. nt

[Sequoia]

3. Make more ice cream and chocolate milk.

I guess the cows are not so happy in California after all. I like driving down the road and seeing cows strolling along the pasture feeling peaceful.

[liberal N proud]

5. Comes back to the speculation on commodities again

The gas/oil prices, grain prices all were victims and milk is no different.

[Kalyke]

6. With two kids, I buy a lot of milk (and I LOVE milk, too), but

with two dairy farms basically just down the road, I feel no need to buy California milk. My Tennessee milk is fresher and cheaper.

:shrug:

[ensho]

10. your Tenn. dairys are suffering too - this effects the world's dairys

nt

[Kalyke]

15. I'm sure that's true.

I was just commenting on the California dairy portion of the story.

[sybylla]

18. Milk prices are regional

So are costs of doing business as a dairy farmer.

California has only been able to develop a dairy industry because of the antiquated and ridiculous milk commodity system that's a remnant of the 30s' - giving a higher price to milk the further it's produced from Eau Claire, WI. As it costs more to produce milk in large parts of California than it does in other states, a price drop is a killer for them. No so much for other parts of the country.

Lots of farmers around here going organic - even my Amish neighbors. My BIL went organic a couple of years ago and gets a 1year contract for his milk at double the price of non-organic. It's a long process, but worth the trouble.

[Warpy]

7. There was a bubble in commodities futures last year

and milk was among those. It's why the price of a gallon of milk exceeded the price of a gallon of gasoline. It's why the price of both shot through the roof even though both were in oversupply.

The market was manipulated, kiddies. The farmers are now getting back to reality and price supports for milk will ensure they don't go out of business. However, they'll have to forget about that Lexus and just drive the pickup to church.

We might even see a decrease in price, ourselves. Might.

[Jennicut]

8. I don't feel an ounce of sympathy when prices were artificially driven through the roof

By big corps making money in the commodities market. Screw them and their hormone-laden cows.

[mtnester]

9. Yet the price of milk on the consumer end remains through the roof

Yeah, we all get how that works.

[Occam Bandage]

13. It's dropped significantly from where it was, at least near me. nt

[DJ13]

16. Agreed

Food prices (milk is a component in many other products) continues to increase, even as some in the food industry are claiming poverty.

Something stinks here.

[KittyWampus]

11. Bring back Government Cheese

[Occam Bandage]

12. In June, we were still in the tail end of a commodities bubble. Milk, rice, wheat, and eggs

were all overpriced.

[SmileyRose]

14. If milk is in flood mode why am I still paying almost $4 a gallon for milk?

color me confused.

[Javaman]

17. I get my milk from a local producer raw. no chems all grass fed...

if you have never tried it, it's absolutely wonderful. been drinking now going on a year. swear by it. The farm we get it from is inspected by the FDA once a week. no store bought crap for me anymore. I make my own yogurt, cottage cheese, cream, cheese, clabber and butter from it.

look up clabbered milk, it's an acquired taste but basically, raw milk doesn't go bad, it becomes clabbered.

oh and also, I have been experimenting with it by making milk based plastic.

so much can be done with milk it's unbelievable.

also, I was lactose intolerant. not with raw milk, no problems at all.