Despite increasing food prices and some shortages of items in the country, the milk supply remains steady along with its price, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.
According to a USDA report Oct. 27, the average price for a gallon of whole milk nationwide was $3.69, and $3.65 for 2% reduced fat milk, about a 3-cent rise since September.
“The availability and supply of milk is not a concern, it’s a concern about moving that milk to where it’s needed,” Matt Herrick of the International Dairy Foods Association, one of the largest dairy lobby groups in the U.S. told Politico Saturday.
The U.S. has had an oversupply of the food staple for decades due to small farms closing, and larger farms buying their livestock for production.
The issue fell into the spotlight this week following a CNN report of a large family lamenting the rising cost of milk, along with other food items, costing them much more to live.
In the story, the mother of the family said she saw the price of a gallon of milk rise from $1.99 to $2.79 in her suburban Texas store.
"A gallon of milk was $1.99. Now it's $2.79. When you buy 12 gallons a week times four weeks, that's a lot of money," Krista Stotler told CNN.
While, on average, milk prices have remained steady during the year, some areas like Kansas City, Mo., have seen the price rise almost 30 cents per gallon since January, while other locations, like Louisville, Ky., have seen the price drop by 50 cents per gallon.
In Dallas, the price per gallon rose 43 cents from $2.86 in January to $3.29 in October, according to the USDA.
“Milk isn’t the issue,” a senior White House official told Politico. “You haven’t seen a huge spike in prices, but for some meat prices it’s gone up substantially. That’s because it’s more vulnerable to these kinds of spikes.”
While price stability may be good for most of the country’s consumers, smaller dairy farmers continue to feel the squeeze put on them from the larger producers.
Those farmers were hoping to get some help from the Biden administration in battling the larger farms that are consolidating production in the industry.
“They can start with a bare field and build a 10,000-cow dairy. I don’t know how you can compete with that,” Minnesota small dairy farm owner Tony Hammell, who is 66, told Politico. “It’s pretty much impossible I would say, just hanging in there is just about all you can do.”
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