Milk and cheese prices dropped dramatically over the last month
Milk and cheese prices have seen a dramatic drop recently with both falling about 70 cents from November to December.
However, experts say the drop in price is not due to an overabundance of milk, but because of decreased demand for product.
Bob Cropp, a dairy economist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison told Dairy Herd that the downturn in the global economy has hit the U.S. dairy industry hard. For most of 2008, the export market was strong, but at the end of the year the economic situation around the world softened the export of U.S. dairy products.
The numbers are similar across the country for milk. According to Wisconsin Ag Connection, the Wisconsin agriculture department says the expected U.S. milk price in November was $15.90 - a $1.20 decrease from 2007.
All 23 milk producing states are reporting a drop in December prices with California showing its prices tumbling $1.65 from November to $13.50 per cwt. - the lowest price in the country.
But Cropp says prices should recover with feed costs continuing to drop.
