It’s a national trend that’s holding true in the Northwest.  Local dairy farms continue to close their doors.

 

Washington alone has lost ten dairy farms in 2019, nearly 3% of all dairies statewide.  And Dan Wood, Executive Director of the Washington state Dairy Federation fears that trend will continue for the remainder of the year.  He said milk prices have been a big challenge.

 

“The price cwt has been down, and it has not followed the historic recovery patterns where you’ve got a good year and then a couple of bad years.  They’ve just stayed low on the prices.”

 

Wood noted ongoing trade uncertainty, whether China, Mexico or Canada has made a bad situation worse.  And decisions in Olympia and D.C. may discourage some from trying to stick it out one more year.

 

“But the uncertainty of how far the state and federal governments are going to go on the regulations at a time when it’s hard to turn a profit, makes it easier for someone to decide they’re going to get out of dairy.”

 

There are currently 360 dairies across the Evergreen state, less than three decade ago, that figure was closer to 1,600.

 

 

If you have a story idea for the Washington Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail gvaagen@cherrycreekradio.com

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