Dairy farmers hurting

UNDATED - Milk prices are way down compared with last year. But the nosedive in prices is a mixed blessing - good for consumers in the short run, but it's killing Georgia milk producers.

"With the way the market is looking right now, we probably will loose quite a few dairy farmers over the summer," Georgia Milk Producers director Farrah Newberry said.

Newberry says prices are low because milk farmers produced too much milk and there is now a glut, they lost their overseas markets, and the economy in general is lousy.

The collapse in milk prices has wiped away the profits of dairy farmers, already driving many out of business while forcing others to slaughter their herds or dump milk on the ground in protest.

Price disparities are a fact of life both for farmers and anyone who shops at a supermarket, but the nature of milk â

http://accesswdun.com/article/2009/5/220657