1. with Spruce Eden Farm to create
the East River Dairy Farm. The
East River Dairy Farm milks
1,000 cows as a collective effort
of the Angell, Forbes, Under-
wood and Young families; how-
ever, Forbes used to primarily be
a cattle farmer similar to White.
Forbes says 12 to 16 percent
of income for farmers comes
from selling cattle for slaughter.
Forbes said in his experience,
dairy farming is much more
profitable.
“New York is a big milk-pro-
ducing state, the soil and climate
are good for this type of agricul-
ture,” he explained.
While Forbes has a much larg-
er farm than White, he under-
stands the uncertainty of each
year with dairy farming and how
profits vary greatly each year.
“Our farm has been able to
have a good year so far despite the
index price of milk,” Forbes said.
According to the state Depart-
mentofAgricultureandMarkets,
the early April 2015 index price
of milk per 100 pounds — about
nine gallons — is $18.12 for the
state. A dairy farmer’s profit is
primarily based on this index
price, as well as the production
per cow. This figure shows a
recent decline in comparison to
the record high index price of
$24.42 seen for February 2014.
Given these fluctuations in
prices, dairy farmers are accus-
tomed to the inconsistency and
have to budget effectively to
stay in business.
In organic farming, significant
price swings are uncommon, and
therefore there is a higher chance
of profit, one farmer said.
Organic dairy farms, like Twin
Oaks Dairy Farm in Truxton
owned by Kathie Arnold and her
son Kirk, have a cushion against
price fluctuations faced by many
other farms. This is because or-
ganic farms do not follow the
same pricing system.
“Organic farming has a base
price for their milk along with
incentives for quality parame-
ters, and high butter fat content,”
Arnold said. “Dairy farming is
unknown month to month, but
organic farmers know what they
will be paid and it usually will
go up as the year progresses.”
Jim Gosier, an attorney and
spokesman for Byrne Dairy, a
nationwide brand based in the
Syracuse area, said his com-
pany has experience both with
conventional dairy farms and
organic farms.
Byrne Dairy works with
270 dairy farms nationwide,
along with various supermar-
kets and other vendors. While
Byrne buys its dairy products
from farms all over the nation,
Cortland County farms do a
substantial amount of business
with Byrne.
“We have great relationships
with Cortland County farmers,”
Gosier said. “Our convenience
store in Cortland has been there
for so many years.”
Along with milk, Byrne Dairy
is a major producer of yogurt for
various companies and under
its own brand. Byrne opened a
40,000-square-foot yogurt plant
in Cortlandville in June of 2014.
Janice Degni, dairy and field crops
team leader of Cornell Cooperative
Extension of Cortland County, said
yogurt has created a larger demand
for milk over the years.
“Yogurt is good for dairy
farmers because it gives them
a place to sell their product and
has encouraged farmers to pro-
duce more lately,” Degni said.
According to the USDA’s 2012
census of agriculture, New York
is the top yogurt producing state,
and it is New York’s No. 1 dairy
product sold. Along with this,
New York has seen an increase in
the amount of cows on farms to
616,000 heads for February 2015
compared to 610,000 from Feb-
ruary 2013, according to recent
USDA statistics.
With the amount of production
New York has for dairy agricul-
ture, it is surprising to see Cort-
land County’s number of farms
decrease in recent years. Even
though the number of farms in
the county dropped from 587 in
2007 to 518 in 2012, those farms
grew in size over the same time
frame, according to recent statis-
tics from the USDA.
Degni said the decrease in
the number of Cortland County
farms is due mainly to economic
factors.
“A lot of farms close because
of economic factors. They have
no control over margins between
price and they have no control
over what they get paid, so they
are forced out of business for fi-
nancial reasons,” Degni said.
continued from page 1
Joe McIntyre/staff photographer
Truxton dairy farmer Kathie Arnold brings hay to one of her
dairy cows March 12.
BRIGGS