From the parlor pit ( the squeeze is on) 3-31

[jrsiajdranch]

Well some folks affectionately refer to us as t i tty tuggers.  Well this week they announced we get to snuggle up and become t i tty suckers.  The price of milk has dropped again and now the milc payment checks will be coming out.

Thats right we are gonna get some of Obama's stash!

It will be 38.95 cents per cwt. Thats just great.  the average 150 cow dairy will get about 1051 dollars!

Wish it wasn't happening. First because it is just wrong and second we need the clean out in the dairy industry. We must reduce numbers.

With the pink slime scare we are also losing value in the beef. I think it is short lived but still it has an impact.

Here is a market summary for the past week.

March Class III Price Drops Another 34 Cents

(March 30, 2012)  The March Federal order benchmark milk price dropped another 34 cents, to $15.72 per hundredweight, the fourth month in a row of decline, $3.68below March 2011, and equates to about $1.35 per gallon. That brought the 2012 average to $16.28, down from $16.63 at this time a year ago, and compares to $13.85 in 2010 and $10.18 in 2009.

Looking ahead, Class III futures settled Thursday as follows; April, $15.62; May, $15.29; June, $15.52; with a peak of $16.73 in September.

The March Class IV price is $15.35, down 57 cents from February and $4.06 below a year ago. California’s comparable prices are scheduled to be announced April 2.

The four-week, NASS-surveyed cheese price averaged $1.5248 per pound, down 1.6 cents from February. Butter averaged $1.4347, down 3.7 cents. Nonfat dry milk averaged $1.3310, down 4.8 cents, and dry whey averaged 61.07 cents, down 2.9 cents.

Courtesy the Mielke market Weekly

The pricing formula is kinda screwy but class 1 milk (fluid milk) is priced off the base price of either class 3 or 4 which ever is higher so Last year class 4 was 4 dollars higher than todays price which means 2/3 of my milk check was based off a price 4 - 5.80 higher than this years price. 

But the funny thing is consumers are still complaining about high priced food. This article is not the point  the comment section is. Very interesting reading what the consumer is saying.

Well Life goes on  Today I am going to work some ground up to plant alfalfa tomorrow we will plant it. Maybe even have some time for pics!

Be safe!

[jrsiajdranch]

THis is the article don't know why it didn't load up top?

http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2012/03/30/2289450/low-milk-prices-high-costs-hit.html

Low milk prices, high costs hit California dairies hard

By JOSHUA EMERSON SMITH - jsmith@mercedsunstar.com

California dairy farmers are facing some tough times.

Again.

Many industry advocates say the situation is so dire, state officials should intervene before the summer's end.

MARCI STENBERG

Merced Sun-Star - SUN-STAR FILE PHOTO BY MARCI STENBERG Dairy cows at the Tavares Dairy No. 3 in Merced wait to be milked.

CLICK FOR MORE PHOTOS

"They're really facing difficult times," said Lynne McBride, executive director for the California Dairy Campaign, a chapter of the California Farmers Union. "In 2009, the state lost over 100 dairy farmers because the price was just a disaster that year. They're just recovering from that.

"And now 2012 is looking like another really difficult year. We continue to hear stories of people near bankruptcy and dairies up for sale."

The California Department of Food and Agriculture sets the minimum price that milk processors pay dairy farmers for milk. The state uses a pricing formula based partly on the value of cheese and other milk products on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

Last Friday, the price on the CME for a 40-pound block of cheese dropped significantly -- 14 cents -- to $1.49 from $1.63; and the price of a barrel dropped 16 cents to $1.46 from $1.62. At the same time, high fuel and feed prices continue to make the situation challenging for dairy producers.

The CDFA agreed to hear arguments for raising the minimum price of milk after a petition was submitted earlier this month by several groups representing California dairy farmers, including California Dairies Inc., the Dairy Farmers of America-Western Council, Land O'Lakes Inc., the Security Milk Producers Association, the Milk Producers Council, the California Dairy Campaign, and the Alliance of Western Milk Producers.

"Obviously, this is a challenging time for dairy because of continued high feed prices," said Karen Ross, secretary of the CDFA. "We're seeing energy costs go up. And so it's just a very challenging time right now. We have to work really hard to find some short-term solutions to keep everybody healthy in this industry."

Dairy farmers will give testimony before a panel of judges in Sacramento on May 31, and, if the hearing is extended, on June 1. Opponents of the proposed price hike will also have a chance to speak. The panel will then submit a recommendation to the CDFA for approval.

Despite current challenges, Ross said, fast-emerging export markets may help boost California's dairy industry in coming years.

"The future is so promising for opportunities to really capitalize on fast-growing middle-income classes of many many nations. California's strategically located because most of those are in the Pacific Rim and Southeast Asia. I think the long-term future is great."

A final decision from the CDFA on the minimum price of milk is expected in August. Until then, dairy farmers will have to squeeze every last bit out of what they have.

Reporter Joshua Emerson Smith can be reached at (209) 385-2486 or jsmith@mercedsunstar.com.

Read more here: http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2012/03/30/2289450/low-milk-prices-high-costs-hit.html#storylink=cpy

[k-289]

Highest priced milk at retail and the producer loosing his bu_t --- big time operations don't seem to be the magic bullet after all