Table 16: U.S. Milk Production Costs & Returns

Gross value of production Milk sold Cattle Other income1

Total, gross value of production

Operating costs Purchased feed Homegrown harvested feed Grazed feed

Total, feed costs

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

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

Total, costs listed

Value of production less total costs listed Value of production less operating costs

Source: USDA / ERS.

2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

(Dollars Per Hundredweight)

$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

$6.11 $6.68 $6.49 $6.76 $7.20 $6.93 $5.46 $2.63 $2.72 $3.12 $3.33 $3.11 $0.11 $0.07 $0.07 $0.08 $0.07 $0.07 $11.68 $9.38 $9.29 $9.96 $10.60 $10.10

$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

$1.69 $1.83 $1.87 $1.99 $2.10 $2.20 $2.28 $1.71 $1.77 $1.82 $1.88 $1.92 $3.73 $3.77 $3.86 $4.00 $4.10 $4.13 $0.03 $0.02 $0.02 $0.03 $0.02 $0.02 $0.20 $0.18 $0.18 $0.18 $0.18 $0.18 $0.63 $0.53 $0.54 $0.55 $0.57 $0.58 $8.56 $8.04 $8.24 $8.57 $8.86 $9.02

$23.41 $20.39 $20.58 $21.78 $22.79 $22.24

-$3.55 -$1.55 -$0.46 -$3.20 -$1.77 -$1.59 $5.01 $6.49 $7.77 $5.37 $7.09 $7.44

Supporting information: Milk cows (head per farm) Output per cow (pounds)

183 245 245 245 245 245 20,724 21,698 21,698 21,698 21,698 21,698

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.