Farms.com Home   News

Farmers Received A Smaller Share Of Dairy Dollar.

USDA News        http://www.usda.gov

Over the past decade, the farm share for a basket of 14 dairy products—the ratio of grocery store prices (retail value) to prices received by dairy farmers (farm value)—has fluctuated between 24 and 38 percent.

In 2015, the annual retail value of the basket fell by 1.2 percent to $435 while the farm value of the same products fell by 26.6 percent to $124. A decrease in the all-milk price received by farmers was responsible for the basket’s lower farm value. In 2014, the all-milk price peaked at $23.98 per 100 pounds on a monthly-average basis.

The following year, however, the all-milk price fell to $17.08 per 100 pounds as a result of rising domestic milk production, falling U.S. cheese and dry whey exports, and growing imports of butter and cheese. The basket’s lower 2015 farm value, in turn, caused the farm share to fall from 38 to 29 percent that year.

Farmers received a smaller share of U.S. households’ dairy expenditures in 2015

Source:usda.gov


Trending Video

Back On The Fields | Cutting Alfalfa Hay| Crop Talk

Video: Back On The Fields | Cutting Alfalfa Hay| Crop Talk

We are cutting our second-cut alfalfa hay! Our machinery hasn't been repaired, but the weather is clear, so we take our opportunity to get back on the fields making hay. The alfalfa crop was ready to harvest, and any delays would result in poor quality feed for our sheep, so we decided to go ahead and get that mower rolling. We have a little crop talk about how we cut the hay with our John Deere hydrostatic mower, how we lay the hay out flat in rows to help it dry quicker, and how the two different plantings in that hay field have developed at varying rates and densities. We discuss the quality of the alfalfa hay and show how differing percentages of grasses mixed in with the alfalfa make a difference in the volume of the hay harvested. Hay is the primary feed source on our sheep farm. Getting it done just right is imperative for sheep farming, sheep health, and sheep care. Quality feed sets the stage for producing productive and profitable sheep and allows for feeding throughout the winter season when pasture grazing is no longer an option for those farmers raising sheep in cold climates such as Canada. While in the hay field, we also have a look at the adjacent corn crop and marvel at how well it has developed in such a short period of time.