Sad with so many millions of kids unable to afford a school lunch.
RG
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America’s Dairy Farmers Dump 43 Million Gallons of Excess Milk
Spilled milk hits highest in decades as prices drop and supplies
bulge; putting more butter in McMuffins and cheese in tacos
The Wall Street Journal Oct. 12, 2016
180COMMENTS
<http://www.wsj.com/articles/americas-dairy-farmers-dump-43-million-gallons-of-excess-milk-1476284353#livefyre-comment>
Farmers in the U.S. are pouring out tens of millions of gallons of
excess milk, amid a massive glut that has slashed prices and hasfilled
warehouses with cheese
<http://www.wsj.com/articles/a-cheese-glut-is-overtaking-america-1463477403>.
More than 43 million gallons’ worth of milk were dumped in fields,
manure lagoons or animal feed, or have been lost on truck routes or
discarded at plants in the first eight months of 2016, according to data
from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That is enough milk to fill 66
Olympic swimming pools, and the most wasted in at least 16 years of data
requested by The Wall Street Journal.
Desperate producers are working to find new uses for the excess, like
getting more milk into school lunches, and in revamped tacos and Egg
McMuffins. But many can’t even afford to transport raw milk to market at
current prices, which have plunged 36% on average since prices hit
records in 2014.
“Everyone has dumped milk, from Minnesota to New England,” said Ken
Nobis, head of the Michigan Milk Producers Association.
Dairy and meat producers in the U.S. and abroad expanded their
operations two years ago in response to a shortage, setting the stage
for the current global glut.
American farmers are in the process of harvesting record-large corn and
soybean crops, and meatpackers are now producing the most ever meat and
poultry. As a result,food prices in the U.S. have plummeted
<http://www.wsj.com/articles/food-price-deflation-cheers-consumers-hurts-farmers-grocers-and-restaurants-1472490823>and
farm incomes this year are headed for their third consecutive drop.