QUAD CITIES -
Last week, the Aldi's grocery store in Davenport was selling milk for $1.49 a gallon. Today, the cheapest milk we found was $1.99 for a gallon of skim. Either way, these prices represent a huge drop from last year when milk was hovering around four dollars a gallon.
And while these prices may be a welcome relief for consumers, it's bad news for dairy farmers like Keith Blake of Kris-Del Farms of Davenport.
"We will not be making a profit this year," said Blake, a third-generation dairy farmer with 150 cattle. "You gotta go with the ups and downs."
Last year at this time, things were definitely up for dairy farmers. They were getting 17 to 18 dollars for a hundredweight of milk, which equals about 11.5 gallons. The market was good for all dairy products.
" The nation's cheese demand was high" said Blake. "The economy was better. People went out to eat. Cheese on pizza. People eating lots of cheese. That helped us."
But with the overall economy down recently, consumer demand for all dairy products has dropped significantly... and so have the prices. Today, a hundredweight of milk is bringing only about $10. That's about a 40% drop in income in the last year. "Try to find anybody out there with a job and have them take a 40% pay cut," said Blake. "It's pretty tough on the family budget."
Today, Blake gets less than 90 cents for each gallon of milk his cows produce. Meanwhile, his operating costs just keep going up. " In the last three years, our feed prices have doubled," said Blake. "We're certainly spending more than we're receiving."
Similar scenarios around the country have put some dairy farmers out of business. Other dairy farms are reducing their herds to try to cut costs. Blake says, "You have some farmers just saying, 'The heck with it. Let's sell the cows. Why should we be losing money every month.' "
Blake, though, is not throwing in the towel. He's keeping all of his cows. After all, this dairy farm is a part of him. It's family. It was started by his grandfather more than 100 years ago. He says he's just going to ride out this current downturn in milk prices.
"We're probably looking at another nine to 12 months of prices below what we need just to break even. Then, maybe, things will turn around."
It's a turnaround that can't come soon enough for dairy farmers.
And while these prices may be a welcome relief for consumers, it's bad news for dairy farmers like Keith Blake of Kris-Del Farms of Davenport.
"We will not be making a profit this year," said Blake, a third-generation dairy farmer with 150 cattle. "You gotta go with the ups and downs."
Last year at this time, things were definitely up for dairy farmers. They were getting 17 to 18 dollars for a hundredweight of milk, which equals about 11.5 gallons. The market was good for all dairy products.
" The nation's cheese demand was high" said Blake. "The economy was better. People went out to eat. Cheese on pizza. People eating lots of cheese. That helped us."
But with the overall economy down recently, consumer demand for all dairy products has dropped significantly... and so have the prices. Today, a hundredweight of milk is bringing only about $10. That's about a 40% drop in income in the last year. "Try to find anybody out there with a job and have them take a 40% pay cut," said Blake. "It's pretty tough on the family budget."
Today, Blake gets less than 90 cents for each gallon of milk his cows produce. Meanwhile, his operating costs just keep going up. " In the last three years, our feed prices have doubled," said Blake. "We're certainly spending more than we're receiving."
Similar scenarios around the country have put some dairy farmers out of business. Other dairy farms are reducing their herds to try to cut costs. Blake says, "You have some farmers just saying, 'The heck with it. Let's sell the cows. Why should we be losing money every month.' "
Blake, though, is not throwing in the towel. He's keeping all of his cows. After all, this dairy farm is a part of him. It's family. It was started by his grandfather more than 100 years ago. He says he's just going to ride out this current downturn in milk prices.
"We're probably looking at another nine to 12 months of prices below what we need just to break even. Then, maybe, things will turn around."
It's a turnaround that can't come soon enough for dairy farmers.
