Dairy struggles

The dairy industry is facing a national crisis and it s hitting hard in andamp lt a href andamp quot http www kxnet com t north-dakotaandamp quot class andamp quot kxInlineLinkandamp quot andamp gt North Dakotaandamp lt aandamp gt Crashing prices are sending producers out of business Tonight Ag Reporter andamp lt a href andamp quot http www kxnet com t sarah-gustinandamp quot class andamp quot kxInlineLinkandamp quot andamp gt Sarah Gustinandamp lt aandamp gt takes you into the milk barn to show you first hand the struggle our dairy producers are battling to keep that glass of milk on your table andamp quot cow comes in Fighting just to keep milking Allan Tellman is in the barn by 3 a m He s back out by 2 in the afternoon Working 24 7 just to be losing thousands of dollars puts on the milker Allan Tellmann andamp lt a href andamp quot http www kxnet com t new-salem-ndandamp quot class andamp quot kxInlineLinkandamp quot andamp gt New Salemandamp lt aandamp gt Dairyman andamp quot It s not a paying situation It s a your paying the cows situation or paying the bankers situation andamp quot Gary Hoffman ND Dairy Coalition andamp quot We ve gone through these cycles before But this one is longer and more servere than I have ever seen And most every dairy farmer will tell you the same thing They are losing money everyday they throw the switch andamp quot Eight months ago the milk market took a nose dive Milk that was worth nearly 20 dollars a year ago today is worth less than half that 10 dollar milk just doesn t pay the bills Hoffman says you need to be closer to that 18 dollar range just to break even Gary Hoffman ND Dairy Coalition andamp quot Last month there were 13 of them that quit that s just in the last month Prior to that it is usually 5 6 a month With this slump that we are in right now there are more guys bailing out than what we have seen in quite some time andamp quot Allan Tellmann New Salem Dairyman andamp quot We used to have dozens of dairy people surrounding us You went to a birthday party and sat down 1 2 of you were milking cows Now if you are a dairy man and go out socially you are one of the few andamp quot Today there are only about 200 producers in the state And there are 2000 fewer cows in North Dakota barns than there were in March Allan Tellman Dairyman andamp quot It used to be when you mliked cows years ago Cows paid for a lot of start up farmers They paid for alot of machinery they paid for themselves Dairying used to be a really good way to get started farming Years ago if you had a really good herd of cows youcould afford to get your farm going Right now that hasn t been the case andamp quot Officials agree there is no single factor causing this problem Hoffman says a hurting economy decreased exports and domestic consumption as well as increased feed costs are just some of the contributing factors So why fight a losing battle calf bellar Sarah Gustin KX News Tellman says it s the lifestyle and future prospects like these that wil keep him milking through the price crisis Allan Tellmann Dairyman andamp quot When you have a young heifer out there and everything says that should be a real record breaker you hate to quit then You want to at least see what that heifer does That is the one that is going to really make a difference in your operation and that is what makes you go another year andamp quot It s a drive and spirit like Tellmann s that will keep dairy cows on North Dakota acres machine falls off cow goes out In New Salem for KX News I am Sarah Gustin andamp quot Tomorrow Sarah visits with local businesses directly affected by the shrinking number of cows and producers