Kevin Bernhardt, UW-Platteville, Center for Dairy Profitability

Powerpoint Presentation and WORD document presented at the September 11, 2009 Ag Lenders Conference, Kimberly, WI.

http://cdp.wisc.edu/ppt/Ag%20Lenders%202.ppt

http://cdp.wisc.edu/pdf/John%20Dairy%20Case%20Study.pdf

Dairy Teamers et. al,,

Gary Frank and I are pleased to announce an update to the Cost of Production (COP)  papers titled "Cost of Production III". In this version we revisit the COP option of Per Dollar or Percent of Gross Revenue in addition to the other COP calcualtion approaches previously addressed. Also new to this discussion is the establishment of purpose for the information generated to guide the COP option decision of which approach to use.

Ken Bolton

Those who follow the dairy industry know all too well that dairy producers are under severe financial pressure.  Milk prices are the lowest seen in many years at the same time that  feed costs are up due to strong corn and soybean prices.  These market conditions are making it impossible for most dairy producers to show a positive cash flow, let alone turn a profit. If these unfavorable conditions persist, many dairy farmers will likely be forced out of business.

Attached is a paper that discusses the estimated cash flow positions of Wisconsin and California dairy producers.

Prelminary 2008 Benchmark Reports are being generated.  The following report was generated for the same 35 farms in the years 2006-2008.  Look for more in the near future. 

http://cdp.wisc.edu/AgFAsamplereports.htm

UPDATED:  The Dairy Proforma Calculator on the CDP Website allows you to look at expansions and/or changes in the way you do business.  Enter the current year's values for your farm, then enter a change in cow numbers, investment in building, machinery, production per cow, number of heifers, etc.  Check to see if your financial situation changes for the better and how senstive your new cashflow is to the changes in milk price, prdouction per cow, corn price, protein price and/or hay price. 

http://cdp.wisc.edu/Decision Making Tools.htm