Why low milk prices are really bad for New York farms

With the price of a gallon of milk dropping to the lowest 10 years might be good for consumers, it has meant New York farmers are making less money than they used to. And the impact is apparent: New York has 6,000 fewer dairy farms than it had it in 1989. And the number of dairy farms fell 27 percent over the last decade, records show.The situation is critical for New York's farming industry: Milk is its number one commodity, and the state is the third largest producer in the nation.“Things are pretty dire right now,” said Jerry Simonetty, managing partner of Hudson Valley Fresh Dairy in Poughkeepsie. “Every month, local dairy farmers are losing money.”State officials and farmers point to national and worldwide factors as disrupting New York's milk and dairy industry. In 2016, New York farms earned about $568 million -- about one third of what it was 2013, according the state Farm Bureau.