Dairy Farmers Squeezed By Declining Milk Prices

Jul 20, 2023

Summer demand for ice cream and other dairy products usually contributes to higher milk prices during the summer, but this year that's not the case.

Market prices shifting upwards and downwards is a typical thing, but farmers said this situation is new and not sustainable.

In May of 2022, the price of milk was released at $25.21 per 100 pounds of milk. Now in 2023, the July price is projected at under $14 per 100 pounds.

And while there are years with highs and lows, this major decline in milk prices now comes with an oversupply of milk, and a decline in demand.

"Demand has been decreasing on a decent scale for years and years and years so as the slight increases are happening and demand is going down it becomes a wider and wider gap and eventually something has to give," said James Juedes with Pleasant View Dairy.

This come as some producers in the badger state have had to see their milk go down the drain due to an overabundance of the product, but so far, Central Wisconsin farmers haven't had to take those measures.

"Our handler, Mullins Cheese, has made a commitment to his farmers that despite anything going on he will not ask us to dump milk he will run his business at a loss if he has to in order to keep his patrons happy," said Juedes.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.