As the price of gasoline started rising a few months ago, there wasn’t much attention paid to the rising cost of milk and other dairy products. The good news for consumers is that gasoline prices are starting to recede and we’re starting to see some moderation with milk prices. As for why those milk prices started to skyrocket, Dave Drennan with the Missouri Dairy Association says several factors came into play at the same time, including the discovery of Mad Cow disease in neighboring Canada. Drennan adds the dairy industry was coming out of 18 months of 25 year lows in milk prices, so a lot of dairy farmers reduced the numbers of their herds, leading to lower milk production. As for those prices, Drennan says the prices paid to farmers have not risen proportionally with the prices you pay at the grocery store.