The coronavirus outbreak is boosting milk sales in Wisconsin, but farmers aren’t seeing the benefit just yet.

“We’re out here. Social distancing is one of those things we practice every day. We just didn’t know we did,” Waukesha County dairy farmer Tom Oberhaus said.

Most of Oberhaus’ high protein milk goes to make Swiss cheese, with some ending up at Culver’s restaurants.

Other dairy farmers produce milk for people to drink.

“A major part of our business, as far as the milk business is concerned, is supplying milk to schools. And of course, that business got cut off,” Oberhaus said.

Then, the flow of U.S. milk exports to other countries stopped impacting another 15 percent of Wisconsin dairy production.

But there was also panic buying.

“The Americans went crazing buying milk in the stores, and so the milk is flying off the shelf in the stores,” Oberhaus said.

Then, restaurant dining and catering shut down, hurting butter sales with more people eating at home.

“When people are home, they drink more milk,” Oberhaus said.

Raw milk prices surged around the beginning of the new year, but with the uncertainty over coronavirus now milk futures have dropped again.

“Nobody in government, or whatever, can give us any idea how long are we going to have to live like this,” Oberhaus said.

Farmers said even though there’s been a surge in people drinking milk, raw milk prices continue to fall.