Dairy Farmers Hit by Recession

(MYFOX NATIONAL) - Dairy farmers are the latest unlikely faces of the global recession as the dairy industry finds itself in the midst of a financial crisis.

Dairy farmers are being squeezed out because of simple supply and demand: Not as many people are buying dairy products since the economic downturn, and California has been hit especially hard. It's the No. 1 dairy-producing state in the country, churning out $7 billion worth of dairy products annually. Now, the average farmer here is losing $100,000 a month.

Many farmers are being forced to take their young dairy cows to slaughter because they can't afford to keep them alive.

Industry leaders say U.S. farms need to slash milk production by roughly 5 percent to balance the supply and demand until things start looking up.