June Dairy Month is here and consumers have good news! The cost of dairy products has dropped in many markets as the price paid dairy farmers has dropped 40 percent at the farm gate (50 cents a gallon). While dairy managers are facing huge losses ($10,000 a month with a herd of 100 cows), consumers can buy milk in the Midwest below $2.50 a gallon and butter below $2.50 a pound. June Dairy Month focuses on dairy products, new dairy product recipes, and exciting displays in the dairy case.
Dairy products remain popular as they contain high quality protein with all essential amino acids and whey proteins important in weight control and loss. Milk contains high levels of calcium, potassium, magnesium, and phosphorous. A calcium deficiency called osteoporosis (bone deterioration) continues to be challenge to older U.S. consumers; 73 percent of calcium in a balanced diet can be provided by milk and milk products. Daily U.S. dietary guidelines include two serving of dairy products for children from 1 to 8 years of age and three dairy servings for children over 9 years of age and adults.
If you were the average U.S. consumers in 2007 (last year of available data), you consumed 81.5 pounds of reduced or low fat milk, 54.8 pounds of whole milk, 37.8 fat-free milk, and 17.9 pounds of flavored milk (total of 20.7 gallons a year). You also ate 31.9 pounds of cheese, 21.2 pounds of ice cream, and 4.4 pounds of butter. Dairy product "winners" in 2007 included a 4.8 percent increase in yogurt, 3.9 percent increase in source cream and dips, and 2.6 percent increase in cheese. Dairy product "losers" included a decrease of 7.4 percent in eggnog consumption and 4.8 percent decline in whole milk. These trends indicate changes in dairy products reflect consumers wanting lower caloric products such as yogurt, but sour cream and dips reflect flavor and snack choices. The advantage of a wide variety of dairy products allows consumers to pick their favorite dairy product based on fat content, caloric intake, flavor, taste, cost, and food recipe alternatives.
Consumer dairy choices, controversy, and prices enter in the shopping cart selection process. Another choice is the method of milk production on the farm. The first quarter of 2009 national American Farm Bureau Association supermarket price summary reported organic milk cost $3.71 a half a gallon, rBST labeled milk (from cows not inject with bovine somatotropin) at $3.19 per half gallon, and conventional/"green" milk at $2.16 per half gallon. "Green" milk is produced by dairy farmers using all approved technology to produce milk leading to a lower carbon footprint and more efficiency (more milk per cow at a lower cost to produce the milk).
Currently dairy farmers receive $11 to $14 per one hundred pounds while the cost to product this milk will range from $15 to $18 per one hundred pounds depending on region in the U.S., feed costs, herd size, and investments needed to house and management cows.
Supermarkets continue to be the primary source of purchasing milk (72% of all milk sold) while drug stores sell 3 percent of all milk sales. Federal school programs utilize 5.6 percent of all U.S. sales. Italian cheese is the most popular type of cheese at 14 pounds (total 31.9 pounds). No dairy products were purchased in 2007 by the government milk price support program. Mexico was our largest foreign customer to import dairy products. The U.S. exported nearly 11 percent of all 2008 dairy production with record exports improving the U.S. balance of payment.
The 2008 U.S. dairy industry had 57,127 dairy farm operations (a decline of 4.4 percent compared to 2007) with 9.32 million cows (up 1.4 percent compared to 2007) producing 189.9 billion pounds of milk (up 2.3 percent compared to 2007) averaging 20,396 of milk per cow annually. In comparison, the European Union of 27 countries has 24.3 million dairy cows producing 12,015 pounds of milk per cow. The continued improvements in efficiency in the U.S. dairy industry reflect higher milk yield per cow resulting in lower priced milk and dairy products for U.S. consumers.
