Sit down and rain buckets yourself a cold one — ofmilk , that is . June is National Dairy Month and a opportunity for farmer ( and consumer ) to celebrate dairy yield , dairy farm farmers and dairy ware .

“ The dairy manufacture is big business in the United States , with farm cash receipts totaling 31.4 billion buck in 2010 , ” says Michael Hutjens , Ph.D. , prof emeritus of animal science at the University of Illinois . “ This constitute 10.2 pct of all farm cash gross . ”

Despite the demand for Milk River and other dairy products , likecheeseandyogurt , the horizon is n’t looking too shiny for U.S. dairy managers . Milk River price have dropped 20 per centum and feed prices remain in high spirits , leading to a departure of $ 1 to $ 3 per 100 pounds of milk produced , depending on the region of the U.S. , herd size and degree of milk output .

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“ Milk River prices have dropped as world milk prices have pass up due to economic downturn in such European country as France , Italy , Greece and Portugal ; high milk production in New Zealand with abundant rainwater bring out in high spirits levels of pasture ; and Milk River production up in the United States as dairy farms recuperate from a disastrous 2009 and 2010 , ” Hutjens pronounce . “ A mild winter in 2012 also permit cow to respond with more milk . ”

Feed prices are high because soya bean Mary Leontyne Price , used to give rise soja bean meal for dairy farm cattle , have increased as China increased purchase , and ironical weather in Argentina slim down yield ; drouth conditions in Texas and Oklahoma raised hay and forage prices in 2011 ; and clavus price remain mellow because 40 percentage of U.S. Zea mays is used for ethyl alcohol production , he adds .

“ Solutions for dairy farm managers to remain profitable include higher milk yield per moo-cow ( lowers the cost per 100 Lebanese pound of Milk River due to improved feed efficiency ) , high Milk River fat and Milk River protein subject matter in milk ( increases the milk price received ) , high - quality milk yield ( milk central processing unit pay a bonus for quality Milk River ) , and the use of by - intersection feeds , such as corn distillers ’ metric grain and clavus gluten feed , which reduces provender costs , ” he enunciate .

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The U.S. efficiency level is telling with Milk River issue per cow continue to increase to 21,345 pounds per moo-cow . That ’s nigh 85,000 glass of milk annually . The U.S. book high - producing moo-cow produced over 72,000 glasses of milk in one year .

In 2011 , 51,481 dairy farms produced 196.2 billion pounds of Milk River with an average ruck sizing of 179 cows . California stay on to be the No . 1 dairy state with 1.77 million cows produce 41.5 billion pounds of milk . New Mexico has the high ruck size with 2,350 kine per herd .

“ Milk price are predicted to improve in the dusk of 2012 , but that depends on the summertime mature time of year , which affects provender production and costs , along with high cull cow Mary Leontyne Price that boost remotion of cows from the milking ruck . dairy farm managers call for either low-toned provender Price and/or higher milk prices to rejoin to profitable levels , ” Hutjens say .