Market Watch

A long period of low milk prices will likely accelerate dairy-farm consolidation in Pennsylvania, according to an industry expert in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences. Chad Dechow, associate professor of dairy cattle genetics, sees the United States dairy industry migrating more toward the hog industry model. A sizable contingent of small farms that can produce milk cheaply, rely on nonfarm income sources, or incorporate a niche market will remain. The majority of milk, however, will be produced by a limited number of very large operations with several thousand or more cows spread across "satellite dairies." "We are likely to see fewer single-site, large-family dairies," he said. "Much of this consolidation in Pennsylvania will come from large family dairy farms that continue to grow and some operators may come from Western dairies that purchase satellite dairies farther east." "Unfortunately, some 1,000-cow operations that would have ...