Scott Gunderson tells SeehaferNews.com, “early this year milk was heading to $20 per hundredweight, or about 12-gallons of milk, but then dropped to a point of farmers receiving a 30-to-40% loss of income.” Gunderson termed COVID-19 a “major destroyer of the market”, with supply & demand taking over since.
“Prices are in the $23 and $24 per hundred pounds, and that’s just the base price,” he explained. “We can add premiums to that. Some farmers have higher butter fat, or higher proteins, and then they get paid additional money from either the Co-op, or the private milk buyer they ship their milk to.”
The County agriculture agent for the past 33-years and a co-founder of the Farm Wisconsin Discovery Center in 2018, said, “The whole export (situation) became chaotic with shipping containers being tied up in ports. Obviously China is a major importer of our agriculture products, including some dairy product, and that was decreased dramatically. Our number one buyer of dairy products is Mexico. Their Peso is much devalued compared to our dollar, so they were not able to buy as many products. Canada is the third biggest importer of our products, and there were some issues there with COVID, getting across the border.”
Manitowoc County farmers lost 60-to-70% of their alfalfa, due to winterkill, but field conditions this spring allowed for optimum tillage and planting. ”That worked extremely well,” he said. “We got that in maybe three-three and a half weeks earlier than last year. Right now we are probably two to three weeks ahead of last year with our crops, and that is going extremely well, as far as second cutting being mostly done. The corn is chest high is many cas, or even higher.”
He described 2019 as the worst year in agriculture in his 33-years on the job, and maybe the most depressed in 70 years, according to longtime ag experts.
Gunderson, whose last day in the office is August 3rd, attended Flambeau High School in Tony, Wisconsin, the same alma mater as Badgers football defensive coordinator Jim Leonard.
