The elderly woman in the dairy aisle at Smith’s on north Durango was just as oblivious as the teenage ice cream servers at the Cold Stone Creamery on Rainbow, who didn’t know much more than the attendant at the Vons in Summerlin about how ethanol is driving milk prices through the roof.
But it’s no mystery to Mark French, executive director of the Nevada State Dairy Commission, the regulatory body over our dairy industry. He’s seen corn’s impact firsthand.
The rising demand for ethanol fuel, commonly made from corn, has driven the cost of corn up. That makes feeding cows more expensive, which makes running a dairy more expensive.
Since June, the average cost for a gallon of whole milk in Las Vegas has risen 29 cents to $3.77. There’s been a 37-cent increase (to $3.70) for 2 percent milk, a 41-cent jump (to $3.63) for 1 percent milk and a 39-cent hike for nonfat milk (now $3.49). And, to think, we were worried about $4 a gallon for gas.
Since there aren’t any dairies in Southern Nevada—California, Arizona and Utah supply us—French says we’re somewhat captive to the whims of the economy. “If milk prices go up in there, they’ll probably go up for retailers in Nevada,” French says.
Milk prices have shot up in recent months for other reasons, too: Senate passage of an energy bill with a huge ethanol mandate; a doubling in the price of corn (used to make the bio-fuel ethanol); and higher gas prices making it costlier to take milk from the farm to the market.
Each month, the state dairy commission employees fan out like price cops to survey retail milk costs. July’s report showed a range of $2.79 a gallon (for 2 percent, 1 percent and nonfat milk at the Kroger on Valle Verde) to $4.99 (at the Anderson Dairy on Boulder Highway). For her part, the elderly woman at Smith’s paid $2 for a gallon of whole milk—she had a coupon.