The price of milk and milk products is headed up

Monday, April 5th 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Get ready for another kind of sticker shock. This time at the dairy case. News on 6 reporter Rick Wells reports milk prices are on the way up, and by the middle of next month could be way up.

"It's hard to make it on 40 cows." Darrell Brooks was in the dairy business for five years but just couldn't make a go of it, not enough cows to produce the kind of volume he needed to stay in business so he baled out.

â€œI sold out in July of 2003, because milk prices and feed prices was not enough money there for working 7 days a week, to milk 'em.â€ He's making a living now trimming hooves. More comfortable cows give more milk perhaps. Good news for farmers if the price goes up.

And there are indications from industry expert that is what is gonna happen. Here's why. There are fewer dairy cows; farmers like Darrell Brooks have gotten out of the business. Many have sold their herds for slaughter, worth more for the meat than the milk.

The quickest source for replacement cows used to be Canada. Mad cow disease closed that market. Fewer cows produce less milk. Demand is up for milk and milk products like butter and cheese. The result is simple economics.

One local milk producer told us the cost of producing a gallon of milk could go up 30 to 40 cents by the middle of May. If that cost is passed on milk could go well beyond $3 a gallon. Farmers will get some of that, Darrell Brooks says that's good news.

For consumers it could mean much higher milk prices, perhaps complaining about the price at the milk pump for a change.