MONROE, Wash. -- Aside from doing the body good, there's even another reason to drink more milk -- it could save a Washington farm.

The recession is crippling hundreds of local dairy farmers, and the milk money is about to run out.

Jim Werkhoven's family has been in the dairy business for 50 years.

"February was actually the first month that we've ever had where our milk check wasn't even adequate enough to pay the feed bills," he said.

When a new calf is born, that's the only time a cow gets a break. Farms never stop churning out milk.

So when the worldwide recession evaporated the export business, the balance of supply and demand went out of whack.

The market bottomed out about the same time many of the calves were born and if it doesn't rebound soon, a lot of dairy producers may not make it by the time they're ready to give milk.

It costs Washington farmers almost $19 to produce 100 pounds of milk. When it's delivered to a processor, farmers get less than $13 back.

Washington's Dairy Commission says for every dollar you spend at the story, farmers make only 29 cents.

'The prices the farmers get is basically set by the federal government," said Blair Thompson with the Washington Dairy Commission. "The prices you as a consumer pay in the grocery store is basically what the market will bear."

Dairy farmers say the only way to boost the price of milk is to buy more of it. And if you buy local brands of milk, yogurt, ice cream, and cheese, it's even better.

Jim laid off workers and took a pay cut, but operating costs are higher than ever, and the cows still have to be fed.

And he's losing $100,000 a month.

"We could potentially not only lose our business, but frankly our home and everything we know," Werkhoven said.

He says if milk prices continue to drop, his business' life span is months, not years. But he won't give up the farm without a fight.