The next farm bill was the main focus of eDairy Inc.’s third annual Outlook Conference held recently in Chicago.

One of the speakers was James Webster, eDairy Inc. Washington analyst and editor of the Webster Agricultural Letter, who told participants that “divisions within the dairy industry—between processors and producers, among farms of varying size—create a ‘crazy quilt of cross currents’ that will continue to block consensus on dairy legislation.”

Bill Brooks, economist with eDairy Inc., told attendees that the Farm Bill debate will take place in a year of rising milk prices, though not nearly to levels of 2005. He forecasts Class III milk prices of just under $13/cwt. next year, more than $1 higher than 2006 levels, but still more than a dollar shy of 2005 levels.