Table 16: U.S. Milk Production Costs & Returns 2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
(Dollars Per Hundredweight) Gross value of production Milk sold Cattle Other income1 Total, gross value of production
$17.02 $16.83 $18.25 $16.82 $19.26 $18.87 $2.00 $1.47 $1.37 $1.26 $1.23 $1.27 $0.84 $0.54 $0.50 $0.50 $0.53 $0.51 $19.86 $18.84 $20.11 $18.58 $21.02 $20.65
Operating costs Purchased feed Homegrown harvested feed Grazed feed Total, feed costs
$6.11 $5.46 $0.11 $11.68
Other Operating Costs Veterinary and Medicine Bedding and litter Marketing Custom services Fuel, lube, and electricity Repairs Other operating costs2 Interest on operating capital Total, operating costs
$0.88 $0.77 $0.75 $0.76 $0.78 $0.78 $0.26 $0.20 $0.19 $0.20 $0.20 $0.20 $0.26 $0.18 $0.18 $0.18 $0.19 $0.18 $0.61 $0.67 $0.65 $0.66 $0.67 $0.67 $0.53 $0.52 $0.59 $0.67 $0.69 $0.58 $0.62 $0.61 $0.62 $0.64 $0.66 $0.67 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.01 $0.03 $0.06 $0.14 $0.14 $0.03 $14.85 $12.36 $12.34 $13.21 $13.93 $13.21
Allocated overhead: Hired labor Opportunity cost of unpaid labor Capital recovery of machinery and equipment3 Opportunity cost of land Taxes and insurance General farm overhead Total, allocated overhead
$6.68 $2.63 $0.07 $9.38
$6.49 $2.72 $0.07 $9.29
$6.76 $7.20 $6.93 $3.12 $3.33 $3.11 $0.08 $0.07 $0.07 $9.96 $10.60 $10.10
$1.69 $2.28 $3.73 $0.03 $0.20 $0.63 $8.56
$1.83 $1.71 $3.77 $0.02 $0.18 $0.53 $8.04
$1.87 $1.77 $3.86 $0.02 $0.18 $0.54 $8.24
$1.99 $1.82 $4.00 $0.03 $0.18 $0.55 $8.57
$2.10 $1.88 $4.10 $0.02 $0.18 $0.57 $8.86
$2.20 $1.92 $4.13 $0.02 $0.18 $0.58 $9.02
Total, costs listed
$23.41
$20.39
$20.58
$21.78
$22.79
$22.24
Value of production less total costs listed Value of production less operating costs
-$3.55 $5.01
-$1.55 $6.49
-$0.46 $7.77
-$3.20 $5.37
-$1.77 $7.09
-$1.59 $7.44
183 20,724
245 21,698
245 21,698
245 21,698
245 21,698
245 21,698
Source: USDA / ERS. Supporting information: Milk cows (head per farm) Output per cow (pounds)
1/ Income from renting or leasing dairy stock to other operations; renting space to other dairy operations; co-op patronage dividends associated with the dairy; assessment rebates, refunds, and other dairy-related resources; and the fertilizer value of manure production. 2/ Costs for third party organic certification 3/ Machinery and equipment, housing, manure handling, feed storage structures, and the dairy breeding herd.
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