We recently sent a letter asking local food retailers and producers to support us. We presented them with the scenario that for every acre of dairy land that “moves” 50 miles away, it costs milk producers an additional $205 per acre per year. Here is how we did our math using data published for Western New York in November 2011:
1. How much land produces how much milk?
7 gallons of milk per cow per day at 1.5 acres per cow = 10.5 gal per acre per day
We then converted to find that the hypothetical cow produces 15 Tons of milk per year (assuming 365 days of production which is only necessary for this model)
Using a milk price published on November 16, 2011, we came up with $610 per ton of milk.
Running the numbers again, that amounts to about $9,000/acre/year.
2. For this hypothetical, we assume milk has to be hauled an additional 50 miles as local farms disappear.
3. What is the additional annual transport cost per acre that is an additional 50 miles away? Using a truck capacity of 30 tons, and assuming an additional $1 in transportation costs per load, we calculated an additional $25/acre/year in hauling costs.
4. Assume a quality deterioration loss for the additional time and transport :
2% loss x $9,000/acre/year = $180/acre/year in quality deterioration
5. Exclude ecological costs of the additional diesel fuel, which is still relatively cheap compared to its carbon footprint, and an estimated but realistic cost to consumers for every acre of local farmland lost is
$205/acre/year.
Now ask the question, “how local is ‘local’?” the next time you go to buy
fresh milk, vegetables, or meat;
and then ask whether you are paying
for the trip or the food.
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