By Gary Sliworsky
Ag rep, Emo
We are quickly approaching the time of year when chocolate items of various sizes and shapes appear on store shelves.
It may seem to you that the price of these items is higher when compared to other times of the year—and you would be right.
The following is intended to provide an explanation as to why chocolate prices are higher in the spring:
Spring is very much a time of renewal and fresh starts, and that also applies to the dairy farm. Dairy farmers begin a new production year every spring, and now is the time that they plan and prepare for the new year.
Part of their planning involves determining what volume and type of milk their herd will produce. And an important part of this is deciding how much chocolate milk their herd will produce.
Dairy farms generally try to produce most of the full year’s supply of chocolate milk in the spring, leaving the rest of the year for the production of white milk.
Producing chocolate milk means feeding dairy cattle chocolate, in addition to their normal hay and grain. The amount of chocolate required by a farm can be substantial, depending upon the number of cows and their output.
Some of the very high-producing cows may consume the equivalent of 11or 12 large chocolate bunnies per day. Therefore, a dairy farmer requires a large supply of chocolate for his cattle if he expects to meet his quota for chocolate milk production.
The result is that in early spring, dairy farmers start buying up as much raw chocolate as they can get their hands on. As with all things economic, when there is a large increase in demand for a product, there is a resulting large increase in the price.
Therefore, the high demand for bulk chocolate by the dairy farms results in you seeing an increased price for chocolate items on store shelves.
One consolation is that you know a fresh supply of chocolate milk is coming soon.
Most people don’t realize it, but Valentine’s Day actually was invented to help reduce old chocolate supplies right before the new chocolate production year begins in the spring!
Oh, by way—Happy April Fools Day!
Dates to remember
•April 25—Rainy River Cattlemen’s Association’s spring sale, Stratton sales yard.
