Retail Savings? Probably Not

Driven by a surprisingly high demand for butterfat, dairy prices soared last year, giving some farmers their best financial return in a long while. But economists expect prices to drop to more typical levels in 1999.

Economists don’t expect the rise of factory dairies in California to have much effect on prices for milk, butter and cheese.

“If the five dairies [J.G. Boswell Co. proposes for] Kings County are stocked with dairy cows from California dairies, this would represent a restructuring in the industry and not a growth,” said Eric Erba, research program specialist with the California Department of Food and Agriculture. “As such, I would expect the impact of the dairies on retail prices to be minimal.”