Dairy Troubles in Indiana: What Affects Where Your Milk Comes From

Tariffs, oversupply and European policies may all be to blame for some Hoosier dairy farm troubles.  The dairy industry is dealing with some tough times and that trickles down to Hoosier dairy farmers. You may have heard the story of one Indiana farm where milk will no longer be produced. Joe Kelsay said his troubles don't just come from the tariffs on exports, but from a long downward trend in the market. Deb Osza, CEO of the American Dairy Assoc. Indiana, said she believes overproduction may be caused by the tariffs, and that may be a reason Hoosier farmers are having trouble."It's a tough situation when there's too much supply and not enough demand," said Ozsa. "We consume the vast majority of what we produce. But, we don't consume every last bit of it. So, we hneed to be involved in the export market."And, there's another problem-nature."Cows can't just stop producing milk," she said. "They will produce milk for as long as their cycle, eight or nine or ten months, they can't just shut it off."Moving business elsewhereSo, people involved in the industry are trying to make sure that all the extra milk is used, even trying to encourage food companies to make it into cheese and other products, rather than it not being sold and going to waste. She said the tariffs may have stopped some of that because that production happens, to a large degree, outside the U.S."When the tariff situation is resolved things will balance out and we'll be able to get rid of this oversupply," said Osza.