Is the dairy industry s******g the consumer?

Question

Dairy is subsidized and it is huge, yet a gallon of milk cost only 1 dollar less than a gallon of organic milk which isnt subsidized and has a smaller production

Answer 1

They know that dairy products are in demand, what ever price is attached to this product the consumers will have to buy no matter what!

Answer 2

America spells cheese GRAFT!

Answer 3

Land prices in SoCal have gone up so much that dairies are leaving the state in favor of cheap land in Texas and New Mexico. You try moving 3000 cows that far and see how it adds up! Also, we have been under drought conditions on the west coast, which affects the price of feed; alfalfa hay has doubled in price over the past 3 years, up to $15.00 a bale (125 lbs). A milk cow will eat 1/4 bale per day, and that's aside from the grain fed to her, too.

Don't forget crude oil hit the $80/barrel the day before yesterday, and several refineries on the Texas and Louisiana coast were wiped out by the hurricane earlier this past week; that will REALLY drive up the price of not only milk, but cheeses, butter, sour cream, baked goods, etc.-- anything that is, or uses, a dairy product.

Do the math.

I'm getting my own cow!

Answer 4

lemme answer this from a first hand standpoint. my grand parents were into dairy farming and so were many people in our area. the dairy farmers aren't the one's s******g you. the dairy farmer in the us, as with any american farmer,  is effected by the entire economy. when gas prices rise, the farmer has to pay more for grain that was shipped on trucks using more expensive gas. when the electric bill rises, so too must the milk to pay for the higher bill racked up by the milking machines. i could go on forever. there is another point for me to make. most milk doesn't come from privately owned farms owned by crowley or garelick farms. the milk is sold in barrels by the private farmer. at that point, the milk is much less than you pay on the shelves. it is then taken to a plent where the milk is processed. ( 1%, pasteurization, etc.) it isn't the whole dairy industry that screws you. it's those so called dairy sales companies like crowley and garelick farms that do it. if you know any thing about  wall-mart's "always low prices" you'd understand this: the dairy distribution companies basically controll the dairy farmer.since there are so few companies that can process and sell "farm stabilizing quantities" of milk, they can almost tell the farmer what they'll pay. if the farmer would refuse, his farm runs the risk of bankruptcy. a milk companie's pretty logo with the cows on it doesn't make ti a dairy farm.

Answer 5

I think it's not.

Answer 6

Milk where I live in Reno is OVER $4 a gallon.  If you buy the generic..it's STILL $3.89+ a gallon!!  That is ridicilious!!  YES!!  They are s******g the consumer..

Answer 7

at what level is the subsidy alloted, to the farmer to the cooperative milk transporters or to the milk pasturising plant, then how much is the subsidy is it a fixed amount or per gallon amount.

got milk?

drink it up before it goes bad.

Answer 8

the governemnt is s******g farmers along with organic farming, people are switching to organic, when in fact the organic farmers are the ones putting pathogens such as e coli and strep in to the bulk tanks... more power to the farmers who treat illness in there cows. organic farming is just a way to in a sense get out of calling a vet to take care of there animals.

Answer 9

The milk is going up in cost because it's costing the farmers more to feed their cattle. Big or small they still have to feed them.

Answer 10

I think it has to do with the government and the tree huggers trying to make a dollar for themselves.

Answer 11

no they have expenses...eggs will go down in oct

Answer 12

Cows eat corn and corn prices just shot way up when people got the bright idea of using ethenol in their cars instead of gasoline.  The only problem with that is that you get much worse milage with ethenol.  Anyway, not only has the price of feed gone up, but the cost to transport the milk as well. Then, the cost of oil just went to up to $80 a barrel and guess what - the containers they put milk in are made from oil.  The dairy farmers don't get very much of that money you pay for milk and soon, they won't be able to make any profit at all.  If you can't make a profit, you go out of business.  With fewer farmers producing milk, the demand will totally outweigh the supply and the price will go even higher.  I think I'll just buy a cow.

Answer 13

well so you will know the dairy subsidy  keep the price down by setting a top end price for the milk.

Answer 14

Tell me about it....the price of milk has almost doubled in the last few years, this has to stop!!

Answer 15

Don't look toward the farmers to put blame for farm subsides.  Look to the Governments of the world, that is what has gotten the prices of agriculture products all over the world all messed up.  It is not something that can be straightened out quickly.  If all subsidies were withdrawn and prices went back on supply and demand as they should be, much of the agriculture of the world would collapse before it could adjust.  Added to this problem is the unfair competition between nations is one withdraws subsidizes and another does not.  Organic milk is kind of caught in the middle of this mess.  But higher prices for regular milk help sell more organic milk as the prices get closer together.  I don't mind so much paying three dollars for a gallon of organic milk when regular milk is two dollars.  If regular milk was one dollar, it would be a lot harder to pay three for organic.

Answer 16

the one that is really getting screwed is the farmer. he/she will work 12 hour + days and be on call 24 hours a day if something goes wrong, has no paid sick days, he works harder than almost anyone else and with less pay, and he is appreciated much less than he deserves. And though he will never ask for it he d**n sure deserves your respect.

Answer 17

Not literally but if you mean they're are ripping them off then, in some cases, yes.

Answer 18

No.  The dairy industry is not s******g the consumer.  You complain about a modest increase in the price of milk and say nothing about the 500% increase in interest rates by the Federal Reserve Board.  Bottled water at the store costs more than milk.  Zero calorie sodas are more expensive than milk and provide no nutrition.