Dairy farmers fear more income loss
The Association claims that escalating production costs have slashed the income per gallon of an average 40 cow dairy farmer to half of the 2001 pay cheque.
In their communication to creamery board members, ICMSA said in 2001 a farmer supplying 200,000 litres (44,000 gallons) of milk at 31 cents/litre could expect to earn 25,000. For the same milk production in 2005, at a milk price of 27 cents/litre the same price as for 2004 increased costs reduce the expected income to 13,500. Mr O'Rourke said that dairy farmers are becoming alarmed at the drop in purchasing power, as they find they have to work a lot harder and produce a lot more to stand still.
