Will the commercialization of bST hurt the small dairy farmer?
The effective use of bST has nothing to do with farm size. Unlike many new technologies, there is no up-front capital costs before a farmer starts using this technology. Thus, small farms will have equal access to this technology. The Office of Technology Assessment has concluded that “quality of management” on the dairy farm, not farm size, will be the major factor affecting the magnitude of milk production response from bST. Better farm managers will benefit most from bST, regardless of farm size. Milk price is derived from many factors including consumer demand, business costs, and government regulations.
