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Unusually warm spring brings optimism amid price squeeze

A northern Michigan dairy farmer says this spring is starting off the best in recent memory.

“It’s been a mild winter and a great spring, and I think everyone’s pretty excited to get out into the fields and get things going—things are greening up here.”

Corby Werth milks 400 cows with his father and brother as well as farms 1,200 acres in Alpena.

“We’ll probably start seeding alfalfa I would think the middle of next week and then usually we’ll have corn in the end of April,” he says.

He tells Brownfield milk prices have not been very favorable and with the rise in building costs, their farm is postponing some facility improvements.

“This last half of the year looks positive, but the feed prices right now will be the linchpin kind of hurting a little bit,” he says.

Werth also serves as president of the United Dairy Industry of Michigan and says over the past year he’s proud of the work the checkoff has done to help provide families in need with dairy products including using a producer grant to help his local food bank purchase a cooler for milk and getting area dairy farmers to help fill it throughout the pandemic.