Dairy feed costs aren’t the only pain point when it comes to the current state of the dairy industry. Costs to haul milk have jumped 21% compared to May 2021 to May 2022. The cost to move milk from farm to plant has climbed from 51 cents/cwt to 62 cents/cwt in May of 2022. Hauling prices alone are enough to grumble but the cost of diesel fuel added insult to injury in that same time, jumping from $3.16/gallon to $5.32/gallon.

These price hikes are outlined in Corey Freije’s paper, “Milk Hauling Charges in the Upper Midwest Marketing Area”. Freije analyzed information from more than 9,700 dairy producers. He outlines the flat fee option included in the Federal Order 30 Market Administrator’s producer database. Flat fees can decrease average hauling charges on per hundredweight basis. Wisconsin and Minnesota have the lowest shipping costs because charges are spread over more hundredweights, declining as flat fees come into the picture.

Read more on milk hauling costs here.