Dairy Update

Who knew the dairy industry was SOOOOO involved? It seems pretty straight-forward, but noooo. One would think: you milk the cows, the milk gets packaged into jugs, and then it's sold in the store. Apparently there are a million different steps in that process.

And off of those steps are expensive. Shipping, both the milk and the feed, fuel, feed costs, buying and registering new cows, maintaining dairy and farm equipment, taxes, regulatory regulations and inspections, and on and on..... Betcha never thought about all of that when you were drinking your glass of milk or eating ice cream on Memorial Day.

So, how is Twin Oaks doing these days? Short answer: better. Long answer: We were able to hire a new milk hand in March which has helped ease the work load and life morale considerably. Financially, the dairy industry as a whole is in much better shape, especially in certain regions and markets. Milk produced and sold for cheese production receives the most money per 100 pounds (that's how milk is priced). Regions of the country that have lower milk production pay more for milk, think supply and demand. And areas where land, water, and feed production obviously have a larger profit margin.

We are looking at our options for improving our situation. A dairy in the far North Panhandle of Texas has recently come up for sale. It is a bigger dairy, 500 Jersey cows, and comes with lots of acreage to produce our own feed and hay. It also comes with a hefty price tag but may be within reach. Scott and I went to visit this dairy this past week. It's got his and Kenton's wheels turning. How can we rebuild here using their design and some new technology? What makes that dairy's profit margin larger than ours? Or do we just pick up and move West? All sorts of questions and opportunities.

And we all know how much I LOVE unanswered open-ended questions about my future.... :)