I haven't blogged for awhile and I was struggling for topics to talk about, since the farm has been pretty silent, other than finishing our taxes. Then, I checked the futures prices for milk on the CME website. I am frustrated. Latest market news about better than expected stocks of dry milk, butter, and cheese in addition to a slowly improving world economy has eroded our once optimistic 2010 milk prices. As dairy farmers we are constantly at the mercy of market conditions, world economies, consumer demand, and the weather. At the end of 2009, I know I was looking forward to the more optimistic 2010 futures prices. Industry leaders were forecasting $15/100 pounds of milk for 2010, but now 2010 looks more like 2009. Today the posted markets will give us about $12.90/100 pounds of milk instead of $15. Last year we averaged $12.65, and lost money 8 months out of 12 in 2009. Needless to say, it's going to be a tough spring trying to make ends meet with these prices.
As dairy farmers we have only a handful of options. We can either lower expenses or increase milk pounds to increase income. At Orange Patch Dairy, we will mostly likely do a little of both. Thanks to 2009, we have many practices at work already. We closely monitor our feeds to make sure that we are feeding our cows EXACTLY what they need, and that we don't feed excess nutrients which will pass into the manure. We try to keep our cows in top physical condition, as we know that sick cows cost money. As we work to keep our cows healthy we also reap the advantage of increased milk production. We know that healthy cows are happy cows, and productive cows.
The only other thing I can do is ask all people, young or old, big or small....to make sure that they balance their diets with 3 servings EACH day of dairy products for healthy living and healthy futures.
Showing posts with label milk pricing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label milk pricing. Show all posts
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
When and If....
When and If we make money someday dairy farming...please don't be mad at us.
When and If we make a living on a farm we love...please don't begrudge us.
When and If we produce a safe and wholesome product for a profit...please don't grumble at us.
When and If all of our hard work, tears, sweat and blood finally pays off...please don't curse us.
Right now we are experiencing our WORST year ever as dairy farmers. While we have only been farming for a little over 4 years, this has been hands down the worst year. We are paying more for expenses (feed, fuel, fertilizer, vet, etc.) than we ever had, as well as coping with the lowest milk prices in years. For ourselves, we were smart and saved up a small "insurance fund" for the rough spots. But the rough spots are lasting longer than any of us ever expected. We look forward to $15 milk, when we are getting paid $10 for every 100 pounds of milk. It's not that $15 will make us money, but that $15 will at least pay the bills. We would prefer $17-18 instead-but that seems like a distant dream now. We are not begging for government intervention or massive milk supply contraction. We are working hard to make our farm more efficient. We control our costs-spending money only on things that will make us money or needs to be spent. We would like consumers to purchase and use more dairy products-as the are an important part of balanced diet.
We know that the market will turn around sometime...it's just the time that we have to survive through. We have hope that things will get better. We mourn the lost of our friends and fellow dairymen that have not weathered this storm as well as we have. It's a shame to lose so many to a bad economy, but it is the way the system works. So many that worked so hard and with so much passion to make a living, only to watch it all be taken away from them. So sad. So sad.
So when we do make it back to $17-18 milk, please don't complain about the prices in the stores. Please don't complain, because we receive only a small amount of the retail price. Please know instead that a farm family is finally making a living instead of paying for the opportunity to work. They are instead, finally getting paid to go to work, every other American. We put so much passion in what we do. If we were truly in this industry to make money....well we would have quit by now, especially this year. We would have said "screw this! It's too hard of work for such little pay"....but the truth is that we love what we do, we love the cows that we work with, we love feeding the people of the world with a nutritious product, we love giving back to our communities, we love giving back to our environments....even if we have to do it with little or no pay. Dairying is what we love. Please don't complain, because that gallon of milk you just bought was made with love, passion, devotion....from the entire dairy industry. Just a matter of When and If....
When and If we make a living on a farm we love...please don't begrudge us.
When and If we produce a safe and wholesome product for a profit...please don't grumble at us.
When and If all of our hard work, tears, sweat and blood finally pays off...please don't curse us.
Right now we are experiencing our WORST year ever as dairy farmers. While we have only been farming for a little over 4 years, this has been hands down the worst year. We are paying more for expenses (feed, fuel, fertilizer, vet, etc.) than we ever had, as well as coping with the lowest milk prices in years. For ourselves, we were smart and saved up a small "insurance fund" for the rough spots. But the rough spots are lasting longer than any of us ever expected. We look forward to $15 milk, when we are getting paid $10 for every 100 pounds of milk. It's not that $15 will make us money, but that $15 will at least pay the bills. We would prefer $17-18 instead-but that seems like a distant dream now. We are not begging for government intervention or massive milk supply contraction. We are working hard to make our farm more efficient. We control our costs-spending money only on things that will make us money or needs to be spent. We would like consumers to purchase and use more dairy products-as the are an important part of balanced diet.
We know that the market will turn around sometime...it's just the time that we have to survive through. We have hope that things will get better. We mourn the lost of our friends and fellow dairymen that have not weathered this storm as well as we have. It's a shame to lose so many to a bad economy, but it is the way the system works. So many that worked so hard and with so much passion to make a living, only to watch it all be taken away from them. So sad. So sad.
So when we do make it back to $17-18 milk, please don't complain about the prices in the stores. Please don't complain, because we receive only a small amount of the retail price. Please know instead that a farm family is finally making a living instead of paying for the opportunity to work. They are instead, finally getting paid to go to work, every other American. We put so much passion in what we do. If we were truly in this industry to make money....well we would have quit by now, especially this year. We would have said "screw this! It's too hard of work for such little pay"....but the truth is that we love what we do, we love the cows that we work with, we love feeding the people of the world with a nutritious product, we love giving back to our communities, we love giving back to our environments....even if we have to do it with little or no pay. Dairying is what we love. Please don't complain, because that gallon of milk you just bought was made with love, passion, devotion....from the entire dairy industry. Just a matter of When and If....
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