Got organic milk?
Jeanwah
Posts: 6,363
Bad news for organic milk as demand spikes, supply low and feed costly. Regular milk is injected with hormones which are not good for anyone, particularly kids.
Organic Milk Demand Surges, Dairy Farmers Struggle To Keep Up
WESTVILLE, N.Y. -- "Got milk?" is getting to be a difficult question when it comes to organic.
Because even as more consumers are willing to pay premium prices for organic milk, supermarkets are having trouble keeping it on the shelves as high feed and fuel prices have left some organic dairy farmers unable to keep up with demand.
"The market has surged faster than supply," said George Siemon, CEO of Wisconsin-based Organic Valley, the nation's largest cooperative of organic farmers, "and at the same time we had high feed costs reduce supply, so we had a double hit here."
Organic milk shortages are nothing new. As the milk – which federal regulations require be from cows fed organic feed and free from production-boosting synthetic hormones – rose in popularity during the past decade, there haven't always been enough farmers to meet demand (it can take three years to transition a conventional dairy farm to organic).
The shortages have been serious enough that major chains like Hannaford Supermarkets in the Northeast and Publix Super Markets in the South recently posted signs in the milk aisle advising shoppers of reduced supply. Some relief is expected with the seasonal spring boost in production. But industry watchers say this shortage is more worrisome because of the alarming jumps in the price of organic corn and other feed coupled with higher fuel costs.
"It's kind of like a treadmill thing," said Siobhan Griffin, an upstate New York organic farmer whose cows chomp hay in a hilly pasture. "If you make less milk you make less money, and then you can't afford to make more milk."
After a recent dip during the recession, sales of organic milk – which can sell for twice as much or more as conventional milk – are strong again. Sales for organic whole milk were up 16 percent from January through November of last year compared with a year earlier, even as sales of conventional milk declined, according to federal agricultural statistics.
Molly Keveney, a spokeswoman for Horizon Organic, the No. 1 selling organic milk-brand, estimated a 7 percent growth in organic milk demand in a time of flat supply.
Some farmers have switched to less expensive feed, but that reduced production. Griffin, who runs Raindance Organic Farm 55 miles west of Albany, is losing money as costs outrun prices. She sold 15 cows in the fall so she could afford to buy feed for her remaining cows.
In Elko, Minn., Tim Zweber of Zweber Farms said his family sold about 20 milking cows since the fall because of the feed costs, leaving them with about 100. Zweber – who like Griffin is a member of the Organic Valley cooperative_ said the price his family receives for its milk versus the high costs of producing it results in margins that are very tight.
"If you can't make any money doing it, take the word `sustainable' out of organic," Zweber said with a laugh.
In fact, some struggling farms are switching back to conventional milk or leaving the dairy business entirely. Milk Thistle Farm, a Hudson Valley farm that was a popular vendor at New York City farmers markets, recently announced that it no longer could afford to continue production.
Horizon and Organic Valley say they have more dairy farmers making the transition to organic. But Ed Maltby of the Northeast Organic Producers Alliance said not as many farmers are making the switch because of the economics.
The farmers' plight illuminates an unusual feature of the U.S. dairy economy: Most farmers do not set their own milk prices. Organic farmers typically enter into contracts with processors. This provides stability compared with the month-to-month pricing of conventional milk, but it has caused problems once food and fuel costs took off.
Both Organic Valley and Horizon Organic, owned by Dean Foods Co., have raised the prices they pay to farmers to account for higher production costs.
But many struggling farmers say they need more. The Northeast Organic Producers Alliance, for instance, is petitioning for a 60 cent a gallon hike. The Western Organic Dairy Producers Alliance recently sent a letter to processors seeking an increase that would add 22 cents to a half gallon for consumers
That might be a tough sell.
There are questions over just how much consumers – even those who will pay a premium to support sustainable family farms – will pay for a half gallon of milk. Western alliance president Tony T. Azevedo said he'd like to induce retailers to kick more of their percentage back to the farmers, though he acknowledges that's "a pretty daunting task."
Some farm advocates say additional price pressure comes from industrial-style organic farming operations with 1,000 or more milking cows that are producing more milk for "private label" store brands sold in supermarkets and box stores. The large-scale operations, some with their own processing plants, can produce the milk less expensively than traditional farms and put pressure on all producers to keep prices low.
The growth of these industrial-style operations has angered small-farm advocates who say they violate the spirit of organic, sustainably produced food.
"Forget about the letter of the law for a second, these do not comport with the values that the consumers think they're supporting when they're buying organic milk," said Mark Kastel of the Wisconsin-based farm-policy group The Cornucopia Institute.
Though no one knows when supply will catch up with demand, many expect it to at least ease in a couple of months with the production boost that comes each spring when the fields are in bloom and cows can graze. Hannaford is telling customers to expect more consistent inventory levels in April.
Maltby is more pessimistic.
"Perhaps when the cows go out to pasture in the spring, there might be an increase in production, but we don't anticipate that happening dramatically," Maltby said. "Nothing will really change until the price that the farmer gets paid starts to meet their cost of production."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/1 ... 81498.html
Organic Milk Demand Surges, Dairy Farmers Struggle To Keep Up
WESTVILLE, N.Y. -- "Got milk?" is getting to be a difficult question when it comes to organic.
Because even as more consumers are willing to pay premium prices for organic milk, supermarkets are having trouble keeping it on the shelves as high feed and fuel prices have left some organic dairy farmers unable to keep up with demand.
"The market has surged faster than supply," said George Siemon, CEO of Wisconsin-based Organic Valley, the nation's largest cooperative of organic farmers, "and at the same time we had high feed costs reduce supply, so we had a double hit here."
Organic milk shortages are nothing new. As the milk – which federal regulations require be from cows fed organic feed and free from production-boosting synthetic hormones – rose in popularity during the past decade, there haven't always been enough farmers to meet demand (it can take three years to transition a conventional dairy farm to organic).
The shortages have been serious enough that major chains like Hannaford Supermarkets in the Northeast and Publix Super Markets in the South recently posted signs in the milk aisle advising shoppers of reduced supply. Some relief is expected with the seasonal spring boost in production. But industry watchers say this shortage is more worrisome because of the alarming jumps in the price of organic corn and other feed coupled with higher fuel costs.
"It's kind of like a treadmill thing," said Siobhan Griffin, an upstate New York organic farmer whose cows chomp hay in a hilly pasture. "If you make less milk you make less money, and then you can't afford to make more milk."
After a recent dip during the recession, sales of organic milk – which can sell for twice as much or more as conventional milk – are strong again. Sales for organic whole milk were up 16 percent from January through November of last year compared with a year earlier, even as sales of conventional milk declined, according to federal agricultural statistics.
Molly Keveney, a spokeswoman for Horizon Organic, the No. 1 selling organic milk-brand, estimated a 7 percent growth in organic milk demand in a time of flat supply.
Some farmers have switched to less expensive feed, but that reduced production. Griffin, who runs Raindance Organic Farm 55 miles west of Albany, is losing money as costs outrun prices. She sold 15 cows in the fall so she could afford to buy feed for her remaining cows.
In Elko, Minn., Tim Zweber of Zweber Farms said his family sold about 20 milking cows since the fall because of the feed costs, leaving them with about 100. Zweber – who like Griffin is a member of the Organic Valley cooperative_ said the price his family receives for its milk versus the high costs of producing it results in margins that are very tight.
"If you can't make any money doing it, take the word `sustainable' out of organic," Zweber said with a laugh.
In fact, some struggling farms are switching back to conventional milk or leaving the dairy business entirely. Milk Thistle Farm, a Hudson Valley farm that was a popular vendor at New York City farmers markets, recently announced that it no longer could afford to continue production.
Horizon and Organic Valley say they have more dairy farmers making the transition to organic. But Ed Maltby of the Northeast Organic Producers Alliance said not as many farmers are making the switch because of the economics.
The farmers' plight illuminates an unusual feature of the U.S. dairy economy: Most farmers do not set their own milk prices. Organic farmers typically enter into contracts with processors. This provides stability compared with the month-to-month pricing of conventional milk, but it has caused problems once food and fuel costs took off.
Both Organic Valley and Horizon Organic, owned by Dean Foods Co., have raised the prices they pay to farmers to account for higher production costs.
But many struggling farmers say they need more. The Northeast Organic Producers Alliance, for instance, is petitioning for a 60 cent a gallon hike. The Western Organic Dairy Producers Alliance recently sent a letter to processors seeking an increase that would add 22 cents to a half gallon for consumers
That might be a tough sell.
There are questions over just how much consumers – even those who will pay a premium to support sustainable family farms – will pay for a half gallon of milk. Western alliance president Tony T. Azevedo said he'd like to induce retailers to kick more of their percentage back to the farmers, though he acknowledges that's "a pretty daunting task."
Some farm advocates say additional price pressure comes from industrial-style organic farming operations with 1,000 or more milking cows that are producing more milk for "private label" store brands sold in supermarkets and box stores. The large-scale operations, some with their own processing plants, can produce the milk less expensively than traditional farms and put pressure on all producers to keep prices low.
The growth of these industrial-style operations has angered small-farm advocates who say they violate the spirit of organic, sustainably produced food.
"Forget about the letter of the law for a second, these do not comport with the values that the consumers think they're supporting when they're buying organic milk," said Mark Kastel of the Wisconsin-based farm-policy group The Cornucopia Institute.
Though no one knows when supply will catch up with demand, many expect it to at least ease in a couple of months with the production boost that comes each spring when the fields are in bloom and cows can graze. Hannaford is telling customers to expect more consistent inventory levels in April.
Maltby is more pessimistic.
"Perhaps when the cows go out to pasture in the spring, there might be an increase in production, but we don't anticipate that happening dramatically," Maltby said. "Nothing will really change until the price that the farmer gets paid starts to meet their cost of production."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/1 ... 81498.html
Post edited by Unknown User on
0
Comments
-
OK, are we drinking this because it is more healthy or is it because it makes us feel good about ourselves?The growth of these industrial-style operations has angered small-farm advocates who say they violate the spirit of organic, sustainably produced food.
"Forget about the letter of the law for a second, these do not comport with the values that the consumers think they're supporting when they're buying organic milk," said Mark Kastel of the Wisconsin-based farm-policy group The Cornucopia Institute.Be Excellent To Each OtherParty On, Dudes!0 -
i don't think we should be drinking milk ... period ... if it must be used - definitely organic ...0
-
polaris_x wrote:i don't think we should be drinking milk ... period ... if it must be used - definitely organic ...
Why don't you think we should be drinking milk?Here's a new demo called "in the fire":
<object height="81" width="100%"> <param name="movie" value="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/28998869"></param> <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param> <embed allowscriptaccess="always" height="81" src="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/28998869" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="100%"></embed> </object> <span><a href=" - In the Fire (demo)</a> by <a href="0 -
My family only drinks organic milk. A few family members have had bouts with cancer, and pretty much every oncologist says people (particularly those with cancer) should not be drinking non-organic milk on a regular basis due to the hormones injected.
That said, I'm pretty sure there are health benefits from milk, so doing away with it completely is not advised.
Finally, I think this shortage is not a bad thing. My thought process goes like this:
This is the market reacting to consumer information. More people are demanding this product and organic products like it due to the health concerns associated with non-organic milk. Supply will respond, given time. And the more healthy alternative (organic milk) will prevail. This is actually good news, albeit long term good news.Here's a new demo called "in the fire":
<object height="81" width="100%"> <param name="movie" value="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/28998869"></param> <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param> <embed allowscriptaccess="always" height="81" src="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/28998869" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="100%"></embed> </object> <span><a href=" - In the Fire (demo)</a> by <a href="0 -
inlet13 wrote:polaris_x wrote:i don't think we should be drinking milk ... period ... if it must be used - definitely organic ...
Why don't you think we should be drinking milk?
because milk is very hard for your body to digest ... it's why there are so many people who are lactoce intolerant ... combine that with the fact that when one gets ill and the doctor changes their diet ... dairy is often one of the first few things they cut as well as gluten/wheat ...
then consider that no other animal drinks milk after they are nursed ...0 -
polaris_x wrote:inlet13 wrote:polaris_x wrote:i don't think we should be drinking milk ... period ... if it must be used - definitely organic ...
Why don't you think we should be drinking milk?
because milk is very hard for your body to digest ... it's why there are so many people who are lactoce intolerant ... combine that with the fact that when one gets ill and the doctor changes their diet ... dairy is often one of the first few things they cut as well as gluten/wheat ...
then consider that no other animal drinks milk after they are nursed ...
Interesting.Here's a new demo called "in the fire":
<object height="81" width="100%"> <param name="movie" value="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/28998869"></param> <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param> <embed allowscriptaccess="always" height="81" src="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/28998869" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="100%"></embed> </object> <span><a href=" - In the Fire (demo)</a> by <a href="0 -
After discovering that rice milk and vanilla rice milk taste good to me and work fine in baked goods etc, I pretty much stopped using anything with cows milk. I also prefer goat's milk cheese, although a number of people have told me they don't like it. I usually suggest trying goat's milk brie as the best way to acquire a taste for goat's milk cheese. It's mild and like any goat's milk cheese, is much easier for most people to digest than cow's milk.
Also years ago while visiting a friend in Colorado his mom treated me to some fresh goats milk- straight from the goat to the fridge to the glass. It was fantastic! Sweet, delicious, easy to digest."It's a sad and beautiful world"-Roberto Benigni0 -
Ugh rice milk. Stuff is...I dunno, just weird. Maybe I could get used to it if all the cows in the world suddenly vanished and I was forced to, but man, other than that...gimme my mooooo.brianlux wrote:After discovering that rice milk and vanilla rice milk taste good to me and work fine in baked goods etc, I pretty much stopped using anything with cows milk. I also prefer goat's milk cheese, although a number of people have told me they don't like it. I usually suggest trying goat's milk brie as the best way to acquire a taste for goat's milk cheese. It's mild and like any goat's milk cheese, is much easier for most people to digest than cow's milk.
Also years ago while visiting a friend in Colorado his mom treated me to some fresh goats milk- straight from the goat to the fridge to the glass. It was fantastic! Sweet, delicious, easy to digest.
Goat's milk I totally agree -- I used to hate it but can't get enough of it now. My "transition" or "ease in" to it was via goat's milk gouda. Gouda's got enough other flavor going on there that it covered the -- somewhat indefinable -- aspect of goat's milk that bothered me before.
But why do you think goat's milk is more amiable to the human GI tract that moo milk?0 -
Jason P wrote:
My kitty cat begs to differ ....polaris_x wrote:
then consider that no other animal drinks milk after they are nursed ...
you are not doing your cat a favour ...
http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/cat-care/ ... t-cat.aspx
Milk Does a Body…Bad?
Turns out that you can’t believe everything you see on television! Milk should not be fed to cats as a treat or a substitute for water. Cats do not possess significant amounts of lactase, the enzyme that breaks down lactose in milk. Feeding milk and milk-based products to cats can actually cause them to vomit or have diarrhea.0 -
Inlet -- didn't the below kinda irk you?"It's kind of like a treadmill thing," said Siobhan Griffin, an upstate New York organic farmer whose cows chomp hay in a hilly pasture. "If you make less milk you make less money, and then you can't afford to make more milk."
I mean, I get that the laws of economics don't always work in real-time, but why doesn't Mr Griffin farmerguy just raise his prices? Isn't that the most basic equilibrium curve that Econ101 students are shown? As supply and demand become imbalanced, price must move to restore said balance. Essentially, he just needs to raise his prices until the first part of the sentence isn't true anymore. He may make less milk, but he'll be making as much or more money.0 -
It can also actually cause lots of purring and long cat-naps. In fact, that is all it has caused in my limited test study. Now, chipmunks on the other hand ....polaris_x wrote:Jason P wrote:
My kitty cat begs to differ ....polaris_x wrote:
then consider that no other animal drinks milk after they are nursed ...
you are not doing your cat a favour ...
http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/cat-care/ ... t-cat.aspx
Milk Does a Body…Bad?
Turns out that you can’t believe everything you see on television! Milk should not be fed to cats as a treat or a substitute for water. Cats do not possess significant amounts of lactase, the enzyme that breaks down lactose in milk. Feeding milk and milk-based products to cats can actually cause them to vomit or have diarrhea.
The only reason animals don't drink milk after their nursing is because they don't have the cognitive skills to produce it.Be Excellent To Each OtherParty On, Dudes!0 -
MotoDC wrote:
But why do you think goat's milk is more amiable to the human GI tract that moo milk?
Good question. I'd been told that a number of time and I've experienced it to be true but I don't know why. Anybody?"It's a sad and beautiful world"-Roberto Benigni0 -
brianlux wrote:MotoDC wrote:
But why do you think goat's milk is more amiable to the human GI tract that moo milk?
Good question. I'd been told that a number of time and I've experienced it to be true but I don't know why. Anybody?
goat's milk fat and protein molecules are much smaller making it easier to digest and less likely to cluster ... also, there is less lactose ...0 -
MotoDC wrote:Inlet -- didn't the below kinda irk you?"It's kind of like a treadmill thing," said Siobhan Griffin, an upstate New York organic farmer whose cows chomp hay in a hilly pasture. "If you make less milk you make less money, and then you can't afford to make more milk."
I mean, I get that the laws of economics don't always work in real-time, but why doesn't Mr Griffin farmerguy just raise his prices? Isn't that the most basic equilibrium curve that Econ101 students are shown? As supply and demand become imbalanced, price must move to restore said balance. Essentially, he just needs to raise his prices until the first part of the sentence isn't true anymore. He may make less milk, but he'll be making as much or more money.
Great point!
I guess my response is he can't just raise his prices because the milk market is pretty much a perfectly competitive market. In other words, each supplier is a price-taker. Meaning, that farmer quoted can't influence what the price is within the overall market because he's so small. If he raises his prices, and another farmer keeps them his price the same, the buyer will go to the other farmer and completely avoid the high priced farmer. In that sense, this market is perfectly competitive, and one farmer has no say whatsoever in the price. Clearly, no marker is really 100% perfectly competitive, but this one is pretty close, so most rules hold.
That's why you rarely see commercials for individual suppliers of milk, and see "Got Milk?" (industry-wide) campaigns instead.
My thinking is that the market (as a whole) will eventually respond to the increased demand and shortage, first by increasing prices industry-wide (which will take a bit), then by more farmers entering seeking profits. In the long run, the price will most likely fall back (inflation discounted).Here's a new demo called "in the fire":
<object height="81" width="100%"> <param name="movie" value="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/28998869"></param> <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param> <embed allowscriptaccess="always" height="81" src="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/28998869" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="100%"></embed> </object> <span><a href=" - In the Fire (demo)</a> by <a href="0 -
If you love milk may I suggest straight from the cow fresh. mmmmmmmmmmmm
Its good to know dairy farmers.
0 -
I have a 16-month old who plows through at least a gallon of organic whole milk a week (maybe 2). Sometimes he drinks water, but honestly what else is there for him to drink? Juice is terrible for kids to drink; barely more healthy than soda (sometimes he gets 2 oz of juice as a treat, which he greedily devours). He obviously isn't lactose intolerant, and is very healthy & happy, so I'm not changing a thing. If they have to raise prices then raise them.
As for the factory organic farming not being in the "spirit" of being organic: I don't buy organic stuff to make myself feel better, I buy it because it's healthier for me and my family. Things like produce, which are not shown to have as much a benefit from being organic, i typically just buy conventional or whatever is cheaper or looks better. Factory organic farming is a consequence of capitalism and the principal of supply & demand; as long as it's as healthy as the small farm product I have no problem with it.
As for goats milk, it is really delicious but also more expensive than cows milk. Goat cheese is one of the greatest things on earth, and cows & sheeps milk cheeses are also awesome.
Spectrum 10/27/09; New Orleans JazzFest 5/1/10; Made in America 9/2/12; Phila, PA 10/21/13; Phila, PA 10/22/13; Baltimore Arena 10/27/13; Phila, PA 4/28/16; Phila, PA 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22; Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; Phila, PA 9/7/24; Phila, PA 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24; Pittsburgh 5/16/25; Pittsburgh 5/18/25
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/160 -
I recently stopped by a specialty food store that sells raw-ish milk (not sure exactly what processing they do to it, but it's less than the Harris Teeter stuff) -- $13/gallon for the glass jar of chocolate milk that I picked up. Holy shit it was so goooood...and still cheaper than the beer I drink.SweetChildofMine wrote:If you love milk may I suggest straight from the cow fresh. mmmmmmmmmmmm
Its good to know dairy farmers.
Pure fruit juice? Or the ocean spray nonsense that is mostly sugar? If the former, how can you say it's terrible? I get it that even pure fruit juice has alot of natural sugar and calories, but, at least when I was a kid, calories were the least of my concerns. I was so active it didn't matter, so long as I wasn't eating nothing but cheesy fatty crap.abruzzo wrote:Juice is terrible for kids to drink
Sounds like farmer john needs his own OMEC! hahainlet wrote:that sense, this market is perfectly competitive, and one farmer has no say whatsoever in the price0 -
MotoDC wrote:
Pure fruit juice? Or the ocean spray nonsense that is mostly sugar? If the former, how can you say it's terrible? I get it that even pure fruit juice has alot of natural sugar and calories, but, at least when I was a kid, calories were the least of my concerns. I was so active it didn't matter, so long as I wasn't eating nothing but cheesy fatty crap.abruzzo wrote:Juice is terrible for kids to drink
It's universally recommended to avoid (or restrict) giving kids juice & soda. Yes, pure fruit juice; it's still mostly sugar. He gets it sometimes, but in limited quantities. When he can go to the fridge and get it himself I guess it will be a different story. Spectrum 10/27/09; New Orleans JazzFest 5/1/10; Made in America 9/2/12; Phila, PA 10/21/13; Phila, PA 10/22/13; Baltimore Arena 10/27/13; Phila, PA 4/28/16; Phila, PA 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22; Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; Phila, PA 9/7/24; Phila, PA 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24; Pittsburgh 5/16/25; Pittsburgh 5/18/25
Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/160
Categories
- All Categories
- 148.9K Pearl Jam's Music and Activism
- 110.1K The Porch
- 275 Vitalogy
- 35.1K Given To Fly (live)
- 3.5K Words and Music...Communication
- 39.2K Flea Market
- 39.2K Lost Dogs
- 58.7K Not Pearl Jam's Music
- 10.6K Musicians and Gearheads
- 29.1K Other Music
- 17.8K Poetry, Prose, Music & Art
- 1.1K The Art Wall
- 56.8K Non-Pearl Jam Discussion
- 22.2K A Moving Train
- 31.7K All Encompassing Trip
- 2.9K Technical Stuff and Help