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Butter continues to be saving grace for dairy farmers

 

A dairy processor calls butter the shining star for dairy farmers amidst continued depressed prices.

“It’s been the one commodity that has helped hold milk prices up.  If we didn’t see this good of butter market, we’d see milk prices quite a bit lower.”

President of Select Milk Dairy Manufacturing Operations Steve Cooper tells Brownfield research supporting the benefits of butter compared to partially hydrogenated oils has strengthen butter demand domestically.  “I feel we’re going to be supporting somewhere between a $2-$2.20 price on butter at least through mid-year.”

Cooper oversees Select Milk Producers nonfat dry milk processing at plants in Michigan and Texas, and says the cooperative’s $50 million investment in butter processing in 2016 has been vital to members’ bottom line.  “Michigan’s got one of the lowest producer pay prices in the nation because obviously we’ve got too much milk and not enough processing capacity.”  Cooper says with the depressed markets, they’re processing a lot more cream into butter this year.

The company is currently investing more than $300 million in an identical plant in Texas. Cooper adds the capital necessary for a new plant is prohibitive at times and not everyone is willing to take on that kind of investment when dairy markets continued to be depressed.

AUDIO: Interview with Steve Cooper