|
| Well how much is your deal willing to give Dave? Until your land has appreciated in value to the point you can bail and subdivide it I'm betting you and your boy are going to milk cows. I know of a couple of dairies sitting between Shane in Wy and myself that will be shuttering the doors in the next little while. However drive west of me and there is still expansion going on. I've seen the dynamics of industry change quite a bit in the last 15 years. Guys became quite better operators, more efficient. Using more vaccines, saving more live calves, thus more heifers. Used to go to heifer sale and watch them sell bred springer's all day long. Now the sale doesn't last 2-3 hours, every other week. Only one heifer sale even close to me within 200 miles or more. Looks to be all the big dairies are raising all their own now. I don't see guys just raising heifers buying and selling them. The last downturn took them out.
In my opinion Utah in the next 10-15 years will lose a lot more, there will just a few areas left there that will have milk cows. Recreation and housing is going to take that land over. I know of one dairy that is left in a county I run in Utah, they want to sell out and move cows to another location. But current zoning laws are keeping from selling out and realizing the total potential of their property. They are actively trying to get laws changed so they can afford to subdivide and move dairy.
You will not see the 100 cow dairies ever come back in my opinion. Why work that hard, with so much capital involved to just be a price taker and get beat up. Wish it wasn't true, but facts of life. Once the housing developments go in, they don't want manure, tractors, balers running at night. They like to see a few cows grazing in a pasture, but heaven forbid you ever trail those cows down the road and get their SUV a little dirty. People scream they don't want immigrants working in the country, well so be it. It will someday come down to be mega dairies either with robots, or they are big enough to play the game with government to bring in H2-A workers affordable.
Edited by Russ In Idaho 12/2/2017 10:14
| |
|
Milk prices
