Chautauqua County ranks sixth in New York state in number of dairy farms and 13th in the number of milk cows, according to Cornell Cooperative Extension.

Milk from local dairy farms makes its way to processing plants in Erie, Cleveland and Pittsburgh. Exporting milk from Chautauqua County brings millions of dollars into the county’s economy. Actually, millions is a bit of an understatement — the sale of milk and other dairy products accounted for $69,704 in sales in 2007, the year the last Census of Agriculture was completed.

It will be interesting to see what the 2017 statistics show when 2017 Census of Agriculture results are released by the U.S. Agriculture Department, because what we’re hearing from local dairy farmers isn’t promising. Dairy farmers contacted recently by The Post-Journal say the prices dairy farmers receive for their product is too low to make a profit. Greg White, a Clymer dairy farmer, said 100 pounds of milk from his farm is bought for about $14, but that same milk costs between $18.50 to $19 to produce.

The situation has been ongoing for about three years, with no apparent end in sight, Dairy farms are falling prey to the laws of supply and demand. It has gotten easier to produce milk, with better machinery and breeding increasing each cow’s output. Efficiency has led to the ability to produce more milk. One would think this would be a good thing, but it isn’t for farmers. The increasing supply is coupled with the fact that the demand for milk is largely driven by keeping prices low lest consumers drink other beverages or non-dairy forms of milk. Given that prices need to remain low, the government has tried to create programs to make sure farmers are paid enough for their milk to stay in business. The programs still exist, but prices are too low for the government programs to alleviate the farmers’ economic problems.

The state Legislature and Gov. Andrew Cuomo have approved legislation in recent years to try to make life easier on small farmers with more legislation pending as part of the 2018-19 state budget. But, Jack Jones of the J-High Acres in Frewsburg, said an additional 25 to 30 cents a gallon would help immensely. Minimum wage credits don’t seem like the answer for Jones and his fellow farmers.

The way our nation produces and pays for milk works for consumers who can usually buy milk for between $1.90 and $2.50 a gallon, depending on where one shops for groceries. It isn’t working for the men and women who actually produce the milk. We doubt this problem is going to fix itself since farmers are on their third, and worst, year of low milk prices. The only way for this problem to be solved is government intervention — namely a short-term program for small dairy producers to help balance their bottom line and a long-term program that better regulates the supply of milk.

We don’t expect the solution to come quickly, so Congress should get to work as quickly as possibly.