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Higher diesel costs push Wisconsin dairy farm to find savings

The high cost of fuel is squeezing margins on an east-central Wisconsin dairy farm.

Janet Clark of Eldorado says diesel prices have doubled in the past year.

“It makes a big impact to the bottom line, like everybody else.”

Speaking to Brownfield during the World Dairy Expo this week, she said the farm cannot afford many cutbacks.

“When I talk to my husband and my brother, the three of us that are running our farm, the biggest thing is we’re still going to do what’s best for the land, we’re still going to do what’s best for our cows. That’s the non-negotiable. The other ways in which we can save money are going to be ways that aren’t going to effect those two things.”

Clark, who serves as chair of Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin, says that might include labor costs and having the owners do more work.