While poking around the NPR website, I found an article on milk. In super over-simplified terms, the article basically said that the House and Senate are currently working at agreeing on new farm bills. If they don’t agree soon, then we will revert back to the 1949 farm bill {which they called permanent law}.
In that case, the government would be required to buy milk at double the going rate. So, in short, farmers would have a choice, sell milk to the government for double or to buyers for their standard rate. The article suggested that if a solution or extension to the current farm bill isn’t agreed upon, then consumers could see milk go as high as $7.00/gallon. Yikes!
Who knows what will happen, but it left me wondering, how much do you pay for a gallon of milk? Do you buy your milk direct from the farmer or just pick up a jug from your local grocery store? I pay $2.79 for a gallon of standard grocery milk, but have been known to buy local milk for $3.29 a half gallon. {Did it taste better? Yes.}
I can’t even imagine what $7.00/gallon would do to grocery budgets. I am going to guess that cheese, yogurt, etc. would all go up exponentially too. I totally get that farmers need to get paid, and if someone offered me double for the product I was selling, it would seem crazy to turn them down. So, how much WOULD you be willing to pay, before you decided to go dairy-free?
~Mavis
Stacey says
If I lived near a dairy farm, I would buy directly from the farmer. I don’t, so I would cut back drastically on my milk drinking to about half what I buy now. Getting the government out of the agriculture would be best for everyone in the long run. Those farms that survive would have a regular market in which to compete, and we would probably see more organic farms, leading to more affordable quality dairy products.
Tara says
When I buy milk it’s $4.20/gallon, however I usually swap 2 dozen eggs for a gallon of raw milk at my local Amish dairy farm.
Jenny says
We pay 1.98 a gallon. It comes in half gallon bags. We also live in rural Wisconsin so every other person is a dairy farmer.
Donna says
Not any more!!#
Jen L A says
In PA, milk is pretty highly regulated by the state I believe…we pay $4.00 per gallon (goes up & down by 15 cents each way, depending on the day I feel like). We rarely ever have coupons or sales that go along with milk, I think due to the regs. Jealous of those with cheaper milk for sure!
Don’t have a farmer nearby to buy from (none seem to sell directly to local consumers). Tried local goat milk and we thought is was horrible…so guess I will buy store milk for awhile….
Ashley says
I pay close to $4 a gallon for 2%. Like Jenny, I live in WI but it’s still expensive for us, even when I lived in farm country. I know some gas stations sell the cheaper bags, so I should look into that. Luckily, some grocery stores will sell it for $1-$2 a gallon every now and then (there is usually a 1-2 gallon limit).
I wouldn’t pay a ton more than that for milk. Personally, I drink soy/almond milk, so I’d try to switch my family over to that and then buy local for the rest- if I needed to pay $7 for a gallon of milk either way, I might as well get it from the source.
Kelly says
In NC its illegal to buy milk from the farmer/farm so if the prices go up we are essentially “screwed”. Unless you want to drive to SC or VA where you can buy from the farm…but it’s a 2 hour drive to either for me.
JC says
Milk here in Las Vegas is usually around $3 a gallon, give or take a few cents either way. But my family of 5
HATES milk so we use less than a gallon a week on cereal and the rest goes down the drain. YUCK! We are huge cheese and ice cream fans so any increase in those prices would have us eating differently for sure.
Veronica Vatter says
$4 a gallon here. AND milk prices are state regulated here in PA, so it NEVER ever goes on sale. Can’t buy beer at the grocery store either, you have to go to the state store.
Kayla says
We were paying nearly $3 a gallon until around the time my daughter turned 4, after moving to Las Vegas. She decided she didn’t like milk anymore so I don’t need to buy the full gallon anymore. I’ve been buying myself almond milk and also a half gallon of regular milk for cereal/various recipes. I’ll be glad we don’t buy much of it anymore if this happens! Then I’ll just have to convince my ice cream loving fiance to cut back. 😉
tracie says
There was a time when my family drank close to 2 gallons a day. That will not happen at 8$ a gallon. We pay around 2$ a gallon. What does Milk in a bag look like. Mavis do you drink you farm milk raw?
Aunt G says
$1.99 on sale or over $4 when it’s not. I’m might take up goat milking at the $7 price. I grew up milking goats and for my small acreage that would be the best use for the land. I’m with Stacey…let’s get the government out of the control business, not just in farming… the free market rocks.
Diana says
It’s been stuck at $3/gallon for skim, for a long time here. I personally use about a gallon a week, and sometimes more. The price would have to go darn high before I would curb my milk consumption. I’d say milk producers are entitled to make whatever profit they can. If it becomes more economical to buy, care for, feed, and milk a goat every day than to buy milk, then I’ll look into getting a goat, as will a lot of other people.
Brenda says
We pay $8.00 for one gallon a week, for raw, whole milk from a local farm. In addition, we buy a gallon (or sometimes more for cooking or company, or if the raw milk runs out) at SAMs for $3.39..
Betty Davis says
Its varies here…close to $3.
Grew up on raw milk and its the best. When the govt gets the milk from dairy farms…they take out the nutrients and put in there chemicals….
Yes, get the govt out of most aspects of our lives. The Farmer would probably get more businss..going to consumers as most are getting fed up with the additives being added in the long run. …..Then they wonder were all the cancer comes from……my opinion
Mary Ann says
I think milk is around $4 a gallon here in So Cal — I see it in my Vons (Safeway) Just4U list as $2.99 every so often. But since we started eating primarily Paleo back in January I don’t buy milk or dairy products anymore (except eggs and occasionally some butter for baking). With no dairy or no grains in the diet there’s no more cereal on the menu so no need to buy milk substitutes, either. 🙂
Donna says
Wow. You guys have some cheap milk. I buy direct from the farmer – raw, non-homogenized – and pay $4.50/half-gallon or $9/gallon. If I want goat milk, that’s $1 per gallon. Really tastes good though.
Leslie says
It’s about $2.59/gallon here. And if it doubles in price, then I definitely won’t be buying milk, or dairy products.
Sandi D says
I pay $3.79 at the grocery, more if I want to buy local… I will not pay more than $4.00 so I might have to start looking for an alternative…..
Sue says
I pay $4 a half gallon for raw milk direct from th farmer. It’s worth it to me. I also buy it to make yogurt. So much better and better for you than what you purchase in the store.
Madam Chow says
In Hawaii, specifically Honolulu, milk is $8.99 a gallon, about $7.50 with a discount card.
BC says
We are in Hawaii too and go through a gallon a day which is daunting at the $9 price tag at most stores. Walmart comes through for us with milk in the $5-$6 range.
We also go through yogurt like crazy. To save money, I started making our own yogurt with the substantially cheaper powdered milk.
We switched to whole milk which makes it last longer because it is more filling (yes there was a time when we went through more than a gallon a day). I’m sure straight from the dairy milk would be even more filling…but also so much yummier that the quantity drunk would not change.
Taryn (forkandneedle) says
I’m in New Zealand – where we have more dairy farms than any other farming type, and produce vast quantities of the white stuff (mostly to export). Taking that 1 gallon is 3.78 litres. I pay $3.20 NZ (about $2.70US) for 2 litres. So to buy a gallon I’d pay over $5US, and that’s the produced locally stuff – to buy brand name it could be twice as expensive! I pay about US$8 for a one kilo block of cheese (it is yum!) and about US$4 for a 500g (1lb) block of butter. Our milk is the good stuff – they are very careful about limiting what is added to it. The dairy payout for the farmers is very good at the moment and we have a lot of discussion in the media about how milk products are priced. Oh and I should also mention that farmers get NO subsidies for their product so it is straight market supply and demand.
Mari says
I’m also from New Zealand – the South Island, right in the middle of the major dairy area. Being on a very tight food budget, I only buy the cheap milk (I do not drink it) and pay $2.80 for 2l or $5.50 for 2 x 2l. As Taryn said that’s roughly your gallon. Brand names milk are anything up to $4.90 for 2l. Yesterday the cheapest I could buy 1kg of cheese – my local store brand – was $8.99. Yoghurt is expensive – on special just under $5 a litre. Butter here comes as pure cream butter or water added butter – which I suspect is reconstituted milk powder, as is a lot of our milk. I paid $7.50 for 2 x 500gm (1lb) butter (water added). I am afraid specialty cheeses are just not in my budget any more.
Elizabeth says
Wouldn’t that affect cheese, yogurt and other milk products as well. Plus an increase in cost of prepared foods and even restaurant costs (we don’t actually eat out). Maybe I’ll give in to my daughter’s begging and look into milk goats. We’ve been debating it for a year-maybe we’ll start the discussion again.
Kathleen says
I pay 6.69 a gallon for organic low heat pasteurized non homogenized whole milk. That’s as close to raw milk as I will go for now. I have 3 children and we drink about 2 gallons a month. I don’t think kids need tons of milk and when I told my pediatrician, she agreed. She’s from Poland and says that regular milk isn’t worth it and actually told me how to get raw milk!!!
Margery says
In one town I pay 1.89 a gallon, 30 min away it’s 3.50 a gallon. My milk budget is 20 every 2 weeks, so right now I buy 11 gallons of milk and it just lasts us ( family of 7). If milk went up we would still be spending about 20 dollars, just less milk in our diet.
Chris C. says
We only buy local raw milk, and we pay around $3.50 for a half gallon. Depending on the farmer, sometimes we also pay a $2.75 per bottle deposit for glass bottles (refundable when we remember to return them). We’re lucky enough in Maine to be able to buy raw milk at stores, though, so we can actually get it at our local convenience store! No idea what regular grocery store milk would cost us.
Tabitha T says
We get raw milk every two weeks at $5/ gallon. Whenever money is tight I go to coconut,almond, or cashew milk. (I Have a high powered blender). We aren’t big milk drinkers, but the love yogurt an use kefir in smoothies. Cheese or sour cream going up would be a tragedy for us.
Julie says
Here in PA, a gallon of 2% store brand milk is $3.79. A brand name is $4.09. We switched to organic milk a little while ago and I can find that only in half gallon sizes. Depending on the brand, a half gallon of organic is about $3.79 — the same as a regular gallon.
Jamie G says
We pay well over $4 here in my part of Kansas. There isn’t options for farm bought milk here. However, if milk goes over $7 a gallon then we will just buy a dairy cow and share it with my brother’s family. It is something we have been thinking about doing anyway. I am so thankful to live on a farm where that is an option!!! We thought about goats, but they seem to pick up so many worms and such and b/c we all work day jobs away from the farm I don’t think we need the extra hassle.
Kayla says
We pay $3.19 -3.49 for a gallon of whole milk in Nor Cal. If milk prices went up, we would be in some serious trouble. We go through a gallon of milk every 2 days (family of 5 with growing young kids who like milk). I use milk in cooking and we drink lots of it. Maybe we should invest in a cow….
Diana says
As luck would have it, I attended a luncheon today where a member of Congress was speaking. So, I asked about the Farm Bill, and specifically mentioned the concern about milk prices. He said a farm bill will likely pass soon, and if it doesn’t, they’ll pass an extension to the current bill. He finished by saying with a smile, something like, “Don’t you love having the government meddling with free enterprise?”
Jody Graves says
Hi Mavis,
What a good topic-
I believe in hormone free milk from grass fed with as little processing as possible.
I would pay whatever price guarantees the farmer a livable wage for their
employees and a price that supports the sustainability of the farm.
I think we can’t afford to drink milk that is raised in an unsafe manner- it would be
better for our health to drink minimal quantities of milk rather than super processed, hormone, GMO
and pesticide laced liquid. I was disappointed this weekend because I needed milk and bought Stonyfield
Organic whole milk for 3.99 a half gallon in a waxy container and it had refined fish oil (tilapia), fish gelatin, Vitamin A palmitate, and Vitamin D added.
I would prefer my milk to be, just milk. If possible raw milk would be my choice, right from the farm.
What I normally buy is cream or half and half from a local small dairy in a glass
bottle and pay 1.70 a quart with a 1 dollar returnable bottle. A bargain for a delicious and healthy product.
Geo D says
I don’t drink milk anymore since the cardboard carton was replaced by the plastic jug. The milk has a funny taste in the plastic jugs. All the better though. Now that I cut dairy out of my diet I hardly get sick!! (except for cheese. I’m a cheese addict!)
Jules says
In Oregon, i can get local milk at our grocery store for $2.50 on sale. Usually I just go to WinC and get it the store brand for about that price. In recipes that call for milk I try to use powdered milk instead, and that helps my budget too
Lynda says
I pay $10 a gallon for straight out of the cow milk…illegal and delicious. I buy between 2-3 gallons a week for 7-8 months. I make my cheese, yogurt, sour cream, butter and ice cream. I freeze enough to get us through the months the cow is resting and raising her calf.
Joan says
Lynda, I’ve been curious about trying to make my own cheese, sour cream, etc. One of the things stopping me is that I use very little at a time and didn’t want to do a lot of work for a lot of waste. I’ve wondered how well homemade cheese and sour cream will freeze. How long does yours last in the freezer? What kind(s) of cheese do you freeze? Do you freeze yogurt as well, and what type of yogurt? Thank you for sharing.
Ln says
Why do people continue to drink milk anyway? We are the only mammals on the planet that consume the milk of another species throughout most of our lives. It’s kind of gross if you think about it. Between my daughter’s severe dairy allergy and my lactose intolerance, we don’t keep cow’s milk in the house anymore. We get by just fine with almond milk to drink and soy milk for cooking and baking.
Elizabeth says
See, now some people (like me) have issues with soy-not dietary issues mind you, but rather health issues. Like, when you start making things from soy and substituting it where it really doesn’t belong to fill the good of not having the real thing. Those who traditionally used soy didn’t and still don’t utilize it as westerners do. Soy can cause hormone imbalances. Soy milk is often filled with sugar, flavor and additives. I’m very glad (truly glad in fact) that considering your family’s health issues you have alternatives to dairy.
Humans consume dairy because they want to. It’s really quite difficult to compare us to other animals because our day to day lives are so different from theirs. Humans are the only species to cook all sorts of amazing things, to have picnics and restaurants and food linking you to your culture. For humans dairy and food in general is about identity, socialization. That’s just not how other species live. Other animals don’t make milk from nuts and beans but humans do.
Leslie, in Wyoming says
I find it interesting that people feel, almond, cashew, soy, etc milk is so much better. These milks are not something peoples have ever been making at home. The amount of processing used, heat, added ingredients, I think it is an act of blind faith to think this is better than something that comes from animals including humans as a whole product.
HollyG says
Our milk is about $8.00 per gallon for raw milk. From that I get milk and cream. I guess we used to buy 1% milk at the market so I could water this milk down and get 3 gallons of milk plus a pint of cream for that $8.00.
Katie says
I definitely agree with Ln. Humans are not meant to drink milk from a cow. Only from the mothers breast. We don’t digest it well and therefor it just causes a bunch a problems. Constipation, eczema, rashes, an excess of mucus….a dairy intolerance can cause so many issues. I personally have been dairy free for about 10 years and have been happy as a clam with alternatives. My husband on the other hand wants his milk, so I pay about $3 for a half gallon of organic. If prices went up to $8 it would not be in the house often!
sally rawlings says
I live in a Western Suburb of Sydney Australia and we pay about 1.00 per liter for full fat milk.. It seems fairly consistently priced from store to store for the cheapest branding.. Organic non homogenised is about 3.00 a liter.My husband and his father drink alot of milk.Yogurt is very expensive the cheapest cheese is 6.00 a kilo ( 2.2 lbs) typically mature cheddar like cheese is white here which is weird I am used to cheese coloured as I am from the USA…Formerly Alaska… milk is about 5.00 a gal there..I make yogurt and keffir and I use alot alot of coconut cream as it is very healthy for me ( lowered my cholesterol).I wish I could find raw milk hopefully some day soon….. Sally in Bankstown area of Sydney ( looking for like minded friends I am new here goofysrn@yahoo.com )
Kathy says
I only buy organic, but do buy what is on sale. Usually pay $3.99 or $4.49. Once I started drinking organic, I could not go back. Yes, there is a big difference in taste.
Jessica says
I agree, never thought so until I switched, never going back.
maile says
Here in Battle Ground WA I pay $12 for a gallon of raw goats milk (fed non-gmo). The raw cow’s milk is about the same.
Wynne says
In Northern VA I was paying $6-7 for a gallon of organic milk. We’ve mostly gotten off dairy (goodbye eczema!) and the almond milk ends up costing $8 for a gallon (four quart tetra paks).
Leslie says
Diana, I’m curious. What Congress person was speaking at the luncheon?
Pam says
Bought a gallon yesterday and it was $4.04 at Walmart (cheapest in the area). Tons of dairy farms nearby but most will not sell locally – have been scared by the government reaction to small dairy farms selling raw milk locally. Funny thing was, when you could buy local milk, it was generally a lot cheaper than the stores sold milk for. If the price goes much higher I think my family may have to look into putting a cow on the homestead!
Jessica says
Milk in Maine is crazy expensive, and we are a dairy state. Organic milk is about $7 a gallon, conventional milk is between $3.50-$5.20 a gallon depending on where you buy it. Raw milk can go for $9.50 a gallon, again depending on where you buy it.
Debbie says
I live in Canada, about 10 minutes from the Canada/USA border. On our side of the border in BC we pay over $5 a gallon for milk. If I buy it over the border in WA, I pay between $2.50 and $3.50 a gallon.
EC says
I pay $10/gal and it is worth it because the cows are grassfed without chemicals. No antibiotics, no GMO hormone injections, no pesticide filled GMO feed. And the cows go outside instead of standing in their own poop all day. We don’t need to be ingesting more chemicals – look at the rapidly declining health in the US. 🙁
Julie says
I’m in NC so I can’t get raw. We go thru spells where we don’t drink much and just use it for cooking and coffee. I usually spend $3.35 to $3.50/gal. I don’t think I’d go much higher than $6 a gallon. I really would be troubled over the cheese though! Cheese is a major staple for us.
jestjack says
I get milk for $1.99 a gallon at Aldi…..every place else is “crazy-ville”. I don’t know how Aldi does it …just glad they do. If milk does jump in price , I’m guessing demand will “fall off the table”. We don’t drink a lot of milk and have to freeze it to keep it from going bad. What I found interesting is the comments on buying milk in “bags” …don’t have that in this neck of the woods….yet….
Stacy S says
I’m in Nova Scotia, Canada and 4 litres (just over a gallon) of plain old grocery store milk is $8. It’s usually on sale somewhere for $5.79 or so. Organic grocery store milk is a lot more than that! I don’t know of any farms nearby that produce milk, milk is pretty regulated here I gather (I’m new to the province – I’m from Ontario and milk is always $4.50 a litre there…)
tiffany says
i have to laugh when i read about prices in the states, you have no idea how lucky you are. I live on prince edward island canada, and a gallon of milk here is $7.08 a gallon always, milk is an item that never goes on sale. It’s a standerdized item. also when i see your meat prices,halarious!!! i say that will crying. And when i watch that extreme couponers show i want to lay on the ground and throw a tantrum ,no such thing as double coupons,getting cash back coupon stacking here!!! coupons are a waste of time here.Our stores won’t be losing any money . Organic products forget it , it’s over $7.00 for 1/2 gallon, butter is $6.00 for 1/2 a pound. I HAVE 4 CHILDREN AND MY GROCERY BUDGET IS $150 A WEEK.
Jennifer says
I don’t drink milk, but have a baby turning 1 in 4 months. If milk gets that expensive I’ll just borrow a billy goat and get my 2 gals bred so I can have “free” fresh milk!
Gloria says
I’m in Ontario and we pay between $4 to $5 a gallon for 2%, sometimes $4 on sale. Homogenized is around $6/gal. Our dairy industry is Milk Board controlled and dairy farmers earn a decent income, plus, they do not allow growth hormones or other nasty stuff in our milk. It’s worth the cost alone. But the cost does make you use milk carefully rather than be wasteful.
Alice Birchfield says
I have stopped drinking milk. I drink almond milk instead. Cow’s milk hurts my stomach. I do and can eat cheese though.
Heather says
Rural western ny, I pay $1.98.
Melissa says
just subscribed to Zaycon Foods milk pick up, with my first pick up in my area this coming Tuesday – getting 2 gallons of non-homogenized, low-heat slow pasteurized, hormone free, grass-fed milk from a local family farm, for $5.25 a gallon! Signed up for 6 months – I normally have spent 2.59 a gallon at the store, and occasionally pick up organic or local glass bottle milk if I find it reduced, but I hate paying upwards of $5 a gallon for ultra-pasteurized chemical tasting milk, even if it’s organic, so was happy about this new Zaycon option that I feel is more worth the bigger expense and happens to be having one of their pilot sites right in my neighborhood 🙂
Mavis Butterfield says
Zaycon is offering milk for $6 a gallon in our area. If you get a chance, let me know how you like it.
Denise says
Mavis, that sounds like an awesome deal. If I were to get local organic pastured, raw milk here it’d be $9/gallon, and I’d have to drive 30 minutes to get it…hmm
Denise says
I would love to buy raw milk, but it’s difficult. Right now, I buy organic milk from Safeway for about $5.29/gal. I rarely drink milk myself, but I do use half n half daily.
Thomi says
Milk here in central NY varies from $2-3/gallon for the regular mass produced stuff. Can’t get raw or local easily (have to be sneaky) so it is out of reach budget-wise. I have recently started moving my family toward a plant-based diet … Seems smart for both the environment and our health. My son is six, and just can’t get used to any of the plant milks, so we still get him a little cow’s milk for his cereal. That has been the only sticking point really. Gonna start a front yard garden next year! Faces south, and is our only sunny spot. We’ll see what our new neighbors think!