As we continue to track the impacts of inflation on our industry, we’ve revealed critical insights ranging from increased consumer spending, pricing gaps between the retail and foodservice sectors, and inflation’s effect on Labor Day shopping behaviors. But, how are market conditions currently impacting the supply-side? Recent reports have unveiled that New York dairy farmers have faced significant difficulty this year due to drought, inflation, and supply chain disruptions.
“There’re a lot of problems on the supply end, as far as packaging, even down to the gallon jug for milk containers, just the supplies to put the product in after it’s processed,” commented Audrey Donahoe, President of the American Dairy Association Northeast and fifth-generation dairy farmer. “I think with dairy farming, it’s a little different in the aspect of it’s a perishable product. So, there’s only so much time that you have once it has been processed to get out on the shelf and sell it.”
According to Spectrum News 1, one of the main challenges impacting the sector is the lack of laborers to work in the processing plants and drive the trucks to transport their products. This is in addition to other ongoing supply chain issues.
As Donahue explained to the source, the drought in New York has been an issue this year, keeping the hay supply down, thus cutting into what farmers will feed their animals.
“Farmers worked really hard to take care of their environment and their animals,” noted Gabriella Taylor, New York State Dairy Ambassador. “Those are their number one and number two priorities, and they just really want to produce high-quality products that consumers are sure are safe, local, and fresh, which is what we’re working hard to do every single day here in New York state.”
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