The recession has created a surplus of cows and milk for dairy farmers across the country, which is good news for your grocery bill.
"Whenever you got less demand and too much milk, you get low prices," says Earl Martig, co-owner of Martig Farms Inc. in Beloit.
But reports say the prices of milk and dairy products could double in the next year, as rising feed and production costs cause farmers to cull herds or worse, go out of business.
Martig Farms has been in Earl's family for five generations since the early 1900s. One thousand-fifty milk cows produce eight thousand gallons of milk every day. Martig says they're not selling off any cows, in fact they might add a few before next summer.
While no one knows how much the price of milk will go up, Earl says double may be an overstatement.
"Probably 20 to 25 percent, which, it's going to have to go up that much just to get back to where farmers can break even," says Martig.
The Martig's can milk 30 cows on a side of their brand-new milking parlor, which they just started using this May, and Earl hopes over time it will not only improve the quality and efficiency of their product, but keep their production costs low. Martig says, "It comes from the cow and it's pumped on the truck at 36 degrees in a matter of minutes after it's milked."
Martig says no one is making money selling milk at today's prices, so he'd like to see producers hold prices steady for both the farmers and consumers.
"Hopefully the economy will get better for everybody, and there'll be demand for more milk and dairy products," says Martig.
