Some relief is coming soon to dairy farmers throughout Pennsylvania.
Dairy farmers in Susquehanna County said Friday it's not the help many hoped for and not all of them will get it.
Eric Place is a dairy farm near South Auburn in Susquehanna County. He just learned the Pennsylvania Milk Marketing Board voted to temporarily boost the minimum price of milk by 23 percent. The price increase will last for two months. It starts on November first and ends December 31.
Consumers will end up paying about four cents more for a gallon of milk. Farmers will see an extra 50 cents for every 11 gallons of milk.
"Fifty cents would mean less than $20 a day for me for two months. Sure that's nice, but that's not going to keep us going," said Place. He added right now, dairy farms in Pennsylvania are getting around a dollar per gallon of milk. It costs double that to care for cows and produce the product.
A spokesperson for the milk marketing board admits only dairy farmers that produce, process and sell milk in Pennsylvania will benefit from the premium increase.
That means no help for farmer Gerald Carlin who sells milk to New Jersey.
"A few dollars extra, I suppose, will help some but it's not going to solve the problem when prices are so low compared to what it really costs to make milk now," Carlin said.
Both Carlin and Place said they believe the real solution lies with a milk pricing system where the U.S. secretary of agriculture would set milk prices based on the nationwide cost to produce the milk.
"We feel the pricing system is broken and has failed us," said Place. "It needs a revamp, absolutely, absolutely."
Dairy farmers in Susquehanna County said Friday it's not the help many hoped for and not all of them will get it.
Eric Place is a dairy farm near South Auburn in Susquehanna County. He just learned the Pennsylvania Milk Marketing Board voted to temporarily boost the minimum price of milk by 23 percent. The price increase will last for two months. It starts on November first and ends December 31.
Consumers will end up paying about four cents more for a gallon of milk. Farmers will see an extra 50 cents for every 11 gallons of milk.
"Fifty cents would mean less than $20 a day for me for two months. Sure that's nice, but that's not going to keep us going," said Place. He added right now, dairy farms in Pennsylvania are getting around a dollar per gallon of milk. It costs double that to care for cows and produce the product.
A spokesperson for the milk marketing board admits only dairy farmers that produce, process and sell milk in Pennsylvania will benefit from the premium increase.
That means no help for farmer Gerald Carlin who sells milk to New Jersey.
"A few dollars extra, I suppose, will help some but it's not going to solve the problem when prices are so low compared to what it really costs to make milk now," Carlin said.
Both Carlin and Place said they believe the real solution lies with a milk pricing system where the U.S. secretary of agriculture would set milk prices based on the nationwide cost to produce the milk.
"We feel the pricing system is broken and has failed us," said Place. "It needs a revamp, absolutely, absolutely."
