date:Oct 22, 2018
an economist at INTL FCStone. Feed such as alfalfa and hay are more expensive than last year, as are labor and energy expenses.
With so little room to maneuver, even the smallest cutbacks can have a big effect. When Chobani closed its New York plant over the week of Fourth of July, around the same time a Kraft plant in nearby Walton, New York, did the same thing, it made the financial pain of its suppliers that much more acute.
It was a tough deal for a lot of farmers, said Richard A. Ball, co