Milk market merry-go-round

It's been the worst year for dairy farmers in memory--a year of catastrophic prices in which many farmers went deep in debt just to stay in business. Will 2010 bring any relief?

Maybe so. Prices are picking up. And New York's dairy outlook is brighter this year, says the Syracuse Post-Standard.

But a glance at the milk-trade media yields a more sobering picture. American Agriculturist takes a look at Pennsylvania's numbers, and concludes that prices and profit margins are going to fall a bit in the spring.

Delaware County dairy farmer John Bunting says the prospect of cheese-future trading later this year on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange is bad news for dairy farmers.

Earlier: Columbia County dairy farmer commits suicide

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