Dairy farming beginning to sour across the nation

SULLIGENT, Ala. (WCBI) – Getting your hands on some fresh milk, cheese, or dairy products will become more difficult over the next year years.

“Once I was old enough to start reaching a cow in the barn, I was in the barn helping milk cows and run cows out of the barn,”Dairy Farmer Will Gilmer.

Gilmer is the 3rd generation to take the reins of his family’s Dairy Farm in Alabama.

“After I finish college I decided this is what I wanted to do for a living,” said Gilmer.

Gilmer Dairy Farm not only produces milk but also raises dairy cattle and the food the cow’s eat, but Gilmer says the last 18 years have been quite the experience.

“Dairy farming particularly in the Southeast has been in a long-term decline over the last say 15 years. The State Of Alabama has gone from about 130 dairies down to roughly 40. For those of us that have remained we’ve seen ups and downs. We’re currently in the third or fourth down cycle that we’ve had in the last 10 years. Each progressive cycle our margins shrink even more. So it’s difficult to stay in because like any business you have to re-invest in your infrastructure in your capital. We have to replace equipment and facilities. As the profitability of dairy-farming gets less and less, having the money left over to make those investments to continue to go becomes more difficult,” said Gilmer.

Dr. Amanda Stone is a Dairy Specialist with the MSU Extension service.

She says milk may be cheaper in the store but it’s costing farmers like Gilmer everything.

“The last number I looked at, which was maybe a week ago, was we are 40 billion pounds milk deficit. Which means our producers produce less milk then our people are actually consuming. Which means that’s a good thing our people are drinking more milk but a bad thing in that we aren’t supporting ourselves,” said Stone.

“There’s plenty of milk out there but it has to be brought in from other areas of the country. So to help offset those transportation costs consumers will ultimately have to help pay for that price,” said Gilmer.

Now dairy farmers are actively getting out of the business, but Stone says that presents a whole other issue for those remaining.

“Maybe even the scariest issue is that for every producer that decides to get out of the market they are affecting other producers. The milk trucks can only travel so far for it to still be profitable for the companies that are picking up the milk and our marketing the milk. There’s only a few scattered so if one goes out they are affecting their neighbors decision to stay in,” said Stone.

“More recently beef tends to be the direction that most farmers go to and that’s the direction that our farm is looking at as well if we do transition over, beef and a production seems to be our best option,” said Gilmer.

The USDA shows the largest crop grown in Alabama is peanuts and sweet potatoes in Mississippi.