Dairy farmers still struggling in 2010

At a time when high unemployment continues to plague the High Desert and people struggle to feed their families, providers of two of the Barstow area’s major agricultural products — milk and alfalfa — are struggling too.

Last year the high price dairy farmers were paying for grain and the low price they were receiving for their milk caused dairies in Hinkley and Barstow to cut back on production.
Some dairies, like Harmsen Family Dairy in Hinkley, had to cull some of their cows and sell the meat. And one alfalfa grower in Newberry Springs says the collapsed economy has also caused the price of his product to decrease.

Harmsen Family Dairy is still struggling, Ruth Harmsen said. And over at Dutch Dairy in Helendale, owner Mike DeVries says the prices have improved somewhat, but he is barely breaking even.

“It’s a little better than it was last year, but last year we were losing money,” DeVries said, adding that he owns 1,000 cows. “For a while we didn’t buy new ones because it was not profitable to have more cows. (This year) it’s a little better.”

Last year, DeVries was receiving between $9.50 and $10 per 100 pounds of milk, or hundredweight. Now he’s receiving between $12.50 and $13. There was a time when he would get $18 per hundredweight.

Dairies in Southern California and the Central Valley are starting to see a little bit of recovery, said Rob Vandenheuvel, general manager for the Milk Producer’s Council, a Chino nonprofit that represents California dairies. But many are still losing money.

Last year the federal government was buying cheese from dairymen. This year the Cooperative Working Together Program, a dairy producer’s group that strives to stabilize milk prices, will buy 34,000 cows to go to slaughter for the meat, Vandenheuvel said. The value for beef cows is greater than the value of milk.

Newberry Springs farmer Mitch Hammack sells his alfalfa and grain to dairies like B&E in Barstow. When the housing market was at its peak, Hammack said brokers were paying him $12 a bale. Now, he’s receiving $7.50 a bale.

Also, because dairies were only supplementing their cow’s diet with grain last year — preferring alfalfa because of its high protein — a few farmers have a surplus of grain no one wants to buy, Hammack said.

 “When fresh stuff comes in, nobody wants the old stuff,” Hammack said, adding that he knows some farmers in Arizona that have had problems selling their grain.

According to the San Bernardino County Crop and Livestock Report, acreage for field crops, including alfalfa, corn and wheat, increased in 2008 because of high prices. But because the dairy industry was reducing its demand for field crops in 2009, field crop prices fell back.

Contact the writer:
(760) 256-4123 or jcejnar@desertdispatch.com