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DAIRY ST R
Volume 19, No. 22
Why are some farmgate pay prices below class III?
“All dairy, all the time”™
January 13, 2018
“I would do anything for my kids and give them the chance to be involved in the dairy, if they wanted.” – Mike Kiley
A facility t for the future
UW’s Mark Stephenson explains pricing, premiums By Brittany Olson
brittany.o@dairystar.com
RICE LAKE, Wis. – Between a well-documented surplus of milk putting downward pressure on milk prices, shrinking premiums and farmers being paid under class III federal minimum for their milk, many are scratching their heads and wondering what’s happening to their milk checks. Dr. Mark Stephenson, director of the University of Wisconsin’s Dairy Policy Analysis and Center for Dairy Protability, was on hand to explain this phenomenon at Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College in Rice Lake, Wis., Jan. 3. In his presentation, “What’s Happened to My Milk Check?”, Stephenson summed up trends in the dairy landscape stateside and abroad, offered his analysis as to how those trends affect farmers’ milk prices and gave some insight as to what may happen in the years to come. “Overall national milk price is more reected in impacts of trade, while regional changes in milk production give that price an upward or downward tilt with premiums,” Stephenson said. Production in Wisconsin and the Upper Midwest as a whole continues to grow, leaving the region at a net surplus by about 32 billion pounds. However, milk production in the West, particularly California – whose Central Valley region is still at a net surplus of milk – is declining, as well as the Southeast and East Coast. “Not all the data from 2017 is in yet, but we are seeing substantial declines in the South and California, but growth in the plains states and Wisconsin,” Stephenson said. “Milk is declining in [those] regions, leaving plants running below capacity and stimulating premiums.” In fact, the Southeast is in a milk decit by about 41 billion pounds of milk. Stephenson said it is becoming harder to dairy in the South as the infrastructure to support any kind of dairy farming activity begins to fade with a declining number of dairy herds in that region. “Milk is produced in all 50 states, Turn to PRICING | Page 5
JENNIFER COYNE/DAIRY STAR
Mike Kiley and his son, Jorgan, recently built a double-8 parallel parlor in the 28-stall Ɵestall barn on their dairy farm near Upsala, Minn. The Kileys milk 80 cows.
Kileys retrot tiestall on $30,000 budget By Jennifer Coyne jenn@dairystar.com
UPSALA, Minn. – As soon as the clock strikes 7 p.m., Mike Kiley knows he is just about done for the evening – the chores are complete and the last of the cows are making their way to the parlor. It was not always this simple, though. “We’ve cut our milking time in half. What used to take us two hours with switching cows is now taking us an hour and 15 minutes,” Mike said. This past fall, Mike and his family – wife, Janice, and youngest son, Jorgan, 17, – retrotted the 28-stall tiestall barn into a double-8 parallel parlor on their 80-cow dairy near Upsala, Minn. “Our labor was intense keeping up with the tiestall barn, and we needed to nd another option,” Mike said. “I wanted to be able to spend more time with my children and grandchildren.” The parlor stands at the south end of the older barn with a small holding area and walkway leading to a freestall barn that was built eight years ago. The new Turn to KILEY | Page 7
JENNIFER COYNE/DAIRY STAR
Jorgan Kiley opens a gate that allows cows to enter the parlor. The Kileys did all the concrete and welding working in construcƟng their new facility.