As a result of higher feed and transportation costs, as well as hurricane devastation, several Mississippi dairy farmers have ceased production, a trend that may raise milk prices, according to the Mississippi Farm Bureau. Since fall 2005, the number of dairy farms statewide has dwindled from 235 to 175.

Two bills in the state’s legislature, both pushed by the Mississippi Farm Bureau, would partially cover rising transportation costs and update aging farm equipment. State relief is needed until Congress rewrites federal farm policy in a year. In 10 years, the state’s milk production has fallen almost 50 percent to 341 million pounds. The number of cattle dropped by 55 percent to 23,000, according to federal agriculture statistics.