US: Dairy farmers cut production due to rising feed costs

Updated 2 days ago Severe drought, particularly in the western US, has reduced forage supplies and raised food prices, according to Bob Cropp, dairy economist at the University of Wisconsin Extension. “The prices of corn and soybean meal are much higher than they were a year ago,” says Cropp. "With higher feed costs leading to tighter margins, dairy farmers are likely to further reduce the number of cows, and milk per cow may be hurt a little." The US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) milk production report estimated August milk production was 1.1% higher than a year ago. “This is the first time that milk production growth has been below 2% since March,” notes Cropp. Number of cows in decline The number of dairy cows decreased for three consecutive months. The number of cows in August dropped 19,000 compared to July and 29,000 in May. The number of cows was still 1.1% higher than a year ago. Only nine of the 24 reporting states had fewer dairy cows than a year ago. The biggest ...