A dairy economist says expansion is very unlikely for farmers given the current financial conditions.

“They are paying down debt, interest rates are higher as well.”

Highground’s Betty Berning tells Brownfield margins for dairy farmers are much better than they were at the start of the year.

“My latest estimates have margins pegged at $10.91 per hundredweight to average this year, and if that occurs, that will be in recent history the highest profitability for dairy farmers in terms of income over feed cost,” she says.

Berning says the dairy herd is also limited.

“Heffer inventories are really tight and replacement heifers, if you can find them, are quite expensive,” she explains. “For now it seems as though farmers are paying down debt and they’ll be able to feed a real high quality ration to their cows on these cheaper feed prices.”

She recommends farmers lock in profitable margins while they can to help prepare for future market volatility.

AUDIO: Betty Berning, Highground Dairy

You can now read the most important #news on #eDairyNews #Whatsapp channels!!!

🇺🇸 eDairy News INGLÊS: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaKsjzGDTkJyIN6hcP1K