Depressed milk prices for the past three years have led to the loss of 80 dairies in Iowa in 2018. Iowa State Dairy Association Executive Director Mitch Schulte says the most recent problem is retaliatory tariffs from Mexico on U.S. dairy products in response to U.S. tariffs on their steel. Mexico is the top export market for U.S. cheese and those sales have slowed.
The new USMCA did not include the U.S. lifting steel and aluminum tariffs. So, they’re asking the administration for that fix as soon as possible.
Schulte says passage of a farm bill would also be positive for the dairy industry but the recent changes to the Margin Protection Program for dairyman have helped.
Iowa is the tenth largest milk producing state in the nation and with the loss of 80 dairy farms this year is now down to 1,070 dairies.
