The recent artic blast into single digits sent most of us inside to the warmth and comfort of our homes to wait for the worst to pass. Dairy farmers, their employees and livestock had no such luxury. Regardless of weather, cows need to be milked, fed and cared for on schedule in order to maintain their health and productivity.

Holstein cows, the most common dairy bovine, thrive in cooler climates. Shielded from the wind, they can withstand very cold temperatures just fine as long as the energy levels in their feed rations are increased to compensate for the colder environment. Cows generate a lot heat – enough to keep traditional barns warm during the winter. Modern freestall barns however, are designed to keep cows cool and comfortable during the other 10 months of the year. Their cavernous design allows heat to escape while maintaining a draft-free environment. When temperatures reach the single digits for extended periods, everything with water in it turns solid.

In a facility designed for liquids to flow, that is not a good thing. Manure cannot be scraped from floors and water troughs become surreal ice sculptures. Laneways from barns to milking parlors become treacherous. Pipes, pumps and milking equipment need to be protected from freezing up, or thawed-out when they do freeze.

Cows are treated with special teat dips after milking to protect them from frostbite. New born calves are rushed to warming pens until they are dry. Calf raisers increase the amount of milk fed calves to provide them with more cold-fighting energy. Everyone’s job on a dairy farm becomes more challenging in the face of biting wind, snow-packed ice and slippery everything. As difficult as managing a herd of dairy cows is during frigid weather, the work really begins once temperatures reach the upper 20’s and several days of manure begin to thaw all at once.

And yet, in the face of all of this, a dairy farmer dressed in six layers of clothes, will look you in the eye and say in all sincerity “Isn’t it a beautiful winter day!” Now that’s loving your job.

Current Situation
In the middle of November I wrote that 2009 was shaping up to be a difficult dairy year because of higher costs and lower projected milk prices. Milk prices in 2008 averaged about $19 per hundredweight. In November, futures markets were projecting farm gate milk prices for 2009 in the $17 range. Since then, milk prices have gone from bad to worse. During the last several weeks, milk prices crashed though the $14 range and nobody is sure where the bottom is yet.

Milk prices that are 20 to 30 percent below the cost of production will cause significant ripple effects through the dairy industry, impacting all the businesses that depend on profitable dairy farms for their livelihood, including feed manufacturers, lenders, veterinarians and medical suppliers and farm workers and their families. Reports from other major dairy producing regions of the U.S. indicate a similar or worst economic environment.