A report this week indicated that in the first six months of 2019 Wisconsin lost 449 Dairy Farms. UW Extension Manitowoc County Dairy agent Scott Gunderson tells SeehaferNews.com, that our county is not immune. “We have lost farmers, just like the rest of the state,” Gunderson stated. “Wisconsin has experienced what I would classify as brutal economic conditions for dairy and crop farmers…Wisconsin is losing between 2 and 3 dairy farms each and every day.”
Gunderson said, in some cases, farmers aren’t able to plant approximately 8-10 percent of their crops because the land wouldn’t allow them to be in their fields, meaning they don’t get their average of 178 bushels of corn each year, or 20-21 tons of corn silage, which is the state average over the past few years. Gunderson explained that fact is a “major economic impact for farmers because then they have to those feeds… or reduce their heard size.”
Gunderson says milk prices have improved in recent months, up about $3.50 per gallon. “The challenge we see is nationwide we lost nearly 100,000 dairy cows from a year ago.” That is about 1% of the heard, which is a significant amount. A part of that is due to farmers leaving the business due to monetary shortfalls.
Gunderson advises if the export market improves, that would definitely enhance prices for dairy farmers. One problem in that regard is that tariffs are making things difficult. “Sales to China for example of skim milk powder, cheese, butterfat and whey products were down 67% in May over the previous year,” Gunderson explained. “China could be a massive importer of dairy products and have been in the past, if we could work on the whole tariff issue.
The local ag agent said he’s worked with a number of exiting farm families and it’s “a very gut-wrenching discussion and they work with their accountant, lenders, sometimes attorneys. It’s a decision that has been made countless times across the state in the last several years.”
