Author of this post Alex Rindler is a policy associate with the Environmental Working Group, a non-profit organization working toward protecting public health and the environment. EWG’s blog site can be found at: http://www.ewg.org/agmag/ California’s $8 billion dairy industry is in crisis in large part because corn prices have risen 60 percent since June. Animal feed now accounts for more than 70 percent of farmers’ total dairy operating costs, according to California Dairies, Inc., the state’s leading dairy processing cooperative.
By the year’s end, California, the nation’s largest dairy state, may lose more than 100 dairies to bankruptcies, foreclosures and sales. Meanwhile, farmers struggle to feed their cows with high-priced corn amidst widespread drought.
There is little hope in sight.
U.S. corn futures remain well over $7 a bushel, prices boosted by a shrinking corn harvest, dried-up pastureland and a misguided mandate for greater use of corn ethanol in the U.S. fuel supply.
Dairy farmers across the country are taking extreme measures to stay afloat. Milk cows are being culled at the fastest rate in more than 25 years, with more than 2 million slaughtered nationwide in the first eight months of this year.
In California, farmers are supplementing corn feed with local commodities like almonds and apples, but neither alternative provides animals with enough nutrients.
For an increasing number of dairymen, last-ditch efforts just simply aren’t enough to survive.
Unable to pay bills or make loan payments, some families have been forced to sell off homes and dairies inherited from parents and grandparents. PD
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