By Charles A Hice
Its no secret that California dairies are in a state of trouble. In the last 6 months alone we have seen smaller operations go out of business and even the closing of larger processing plants for the industry.
There are a great many reasons for this; you could cite over-regulation or a changing US culture to be among some of the factors. In one of our last articles, our writer Victor Martino explored some of the possibilities that dairymen have been considering to re-invent their industry.
Regardless of the reasons or the possibilities of changing direction in the future, its clear that this is not a phenomena only in California. The other top dairy states in the union have also been affected.
This has affected dairy farmers and connected industry, right down to your local feed machinery dealer.
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker recently created a so called “Dairy Task Force” to address the problems. The task force is working with dairies across the state of WI, with one notable member being that of Rachel Crane.
“It’s a challenging time right now,” Crane said. “Milk prices have been low for some time now.”
The task force will try to address the reasoning for so many dairy closures in the state as well as develop a series of recommendations to enhance the dairy industry. This may be an interesting task force to keep a watch on. The most obvious consideration to be addressed may be the acute stranglehold the government has on dairies through regulation and subsidy. This type of government oversight makes it nearly impossible for many dairies to profit, let alone survive in a shifting cultural economy.
“If I don’t like the cost of a loaf of bread at one grocery store maybe I’ll drive to the next town over and buy it for less,” Crane said. “It doesn’t work like that with selling our milk.”
There is no doubt that the industry does need to be fixed in some manner, whether that be with directly addressing the issue on the federal and state level, or simply trying to get your dairy operation in a state of diversifying somehow.
Ironically, as the dairy industry suffers, it has never been more efficient. So what’s destroying this industry from making a profit? The over regulation, the horrible government oversight, the changing appetite of Americans? This may be an industry that a well placed trade deal may actually rescue. Or perhaps domestically we can bring back the old Got Milk campaign.
Lets keep an eye on our dairy state neighbors and see what they come up with. We need to come together as an industry.
By Charles A Hice
Editor Ag Expo Magazine
