After seven years of up-and-down milk prices, dairy farmer Bob Baudhuin said he'd like to see prices level off for an extended amount of time to allow him and other farmers to catch up with bills and capital improvements on the farm.

"It takes good prices for a long time to catch up," he said. "Just about the time you get good prices, something else happens and it goes back down again."

Baudhuin, who farms near Slovan in Kewaunee County with his family, said he'd like to make enough money to take care of bills and make a few improvements on items that have been put off — like equipment — and to make a little bit for the family.

"I don't think there are any farmers that are asking to get rich overnight," he said. "It's our life."
Looking at the whole of 2007, this could be an "interesting" year for farmers, said Tom Anderson, Shawano County University of Wisconsin-Extension agriculture agent.

"Milk prices look stronger through the year. That's good news," he said. "On the input side, that's where a lot of the questions arise.

"Those operations that have a real good land base … and over the past few years have had the chance of building their stock of forages and/or high-moisture corn, I think are going to do really well," he said.

Anderson said he suspects milk prices will hang around $13 a hundred weight for the year, which should be a boost for farmers who have seen prices fluctuate between an average of $12.20 a hundred weight in 2002 to $16.90 in 2004, according to statistics from the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture.

Source: Green Bay Gazette.com