Minnesota has 1,825 active dairy farm licenses, a decrease of 146 from the beginning of the year. Over 4,000 dairy farms were in the state a decade ago.
Minnesota lost 58 dairy farm licenses in November, a severe blow to an already depleted agriculture economy.
“There is some seasonality to this.” “Some herds always leave in October, November, and December,” said Lucas Sjostrom, executive director of the Minnesota Milk Producers Association. “But I have not seen (a monthly declines in permits) over 50 for a long time.”
More farmers often opt out of milking cows at the end of the year, either permanently or temporarily, as producers store silage or grain for the new year.
Sjostrom, on the other hand, believes November’s figures highlight the razor-thin financial margins for dairy producers facing a barrage of economic challenges, such as high input costs and poor commodity values, barely a year after dairy enjoyed higher milk, cheese, and butter prices in the wake of the pandemic.
Farmers, according to Sjostrom, are not going bankrupt. He lauded safety-net initiatives like Minnesota’s Dairy Assistance, Investment, and Relief Initiative for assisting farmers amid milk price drops.
