At Licon Dairy Inc, the price of milk, which is set by the U.S Department of Agriculture, has increased by 60% in the last month according to the Manager, Angel Licon.

Due to the rising production costs, Licon has increased the price of the azadero cheese, the dairy farm’s most popular item.

“Our packages used to cost $4.00, it went up to $4.50, $4.75 and it is a package of cheese but people still come out here and they still support us. They still are willing to pay the price for the cheese but we are noticing some customers are a little confused by the inflation,” Licon said.

Licon added the next products to likely get a price hike are suero and chile con queso.

Additionally, one of farms largest expense is running the tractor because of the high gas prices.

While Licon Dairy produces over 400 pounds of cheese daily, Licon is thinking of creating new income sources at the farm to deal with the increasing costs.

“Our petting zoo and all that is free of charge, so it’s getting a little bit harder now to remain free, remain open so we’re going to have to look into different venues and bring more money in and not just solely depend on just our cheese.”

Lastly, Licon added the increase in production and sales costs has pushed them to create the best product they can.

“We have to make sure that we produce the best cheese that we can, every time it comes out it has to be the best cause now it costs a lot more for it to be done and the consumer has to pay a little bit more,” Licon said.

According to the March Consumer Index Report, gasoline, shelter and food were the largest contributors to the all items increase.

As for dairy and related products there was a 1.2% increase in March compared to a 0.8% increase in February.

The food at home index reached over 10% over the last year, the largest 12-month increase since March 1981, according to the March Consumer Index Report.

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