The power of cheese is commanding a higher price.

Maynard Hogberg, Chairman of the Animal Science Department, said part of the hike in cheese prices is because of a shortage of milk.

The shortage is from summer drought conditions, which produced poor feed for cattle, he said. This led to lesser milk production.

“The projection now is the price of milk will stay where it is,” Hogberg said.

The lack of rain left the hay producers with barely any crop, said Bob Boehm, manager commodity of marketing for the Michigan Farm Bureau.

“Hay crop was really good at the beginning, but the second production was pretty light,” he said.

It’s yet to be determined if the third production term will be as bad as the second, he said.

And the cost is trickling down.

Bethany Gephart, assistant manager of Gumby’s Pizza, 311 W. Grand River Ave., said the price of cheese has forced the business to raise its prices.

“But we are offering coupons to make up for the difference,” she said.

Along with hiring more employees to provide better service, Gephart said her business has actually increased.

The restaurant also uses the same amount of cheese it always has, even though the price has increased to 82 cents per pound.

“It was steadily increased by a penny a month and this month it went up 5 cents,” she said.

Jet’s Pizza of Lansing, 3007 Vine Street, in Lansing Township, was forced to raise both delivery and food prices by $1.50.

But assistant manager Dustin Tirban said it’s still business as usual.

“We have one of the best pizza places in town, so our customers are kind of loyal,” he said.

Economics Professor Charles Ballard said consumers might be a deciding factor of how pizza parlors take the higher prices.

“If consumers are willing to pay a higher price, if they love pizza enough, then it will be the consumers who bear the price,” he said.

Papiano’s Pizza, 1219 E. Grand River Ave., has also been dealing with the jump in cheese prices.

Dave DeMercado, assistant general manager, said its prices have stayed the same and the restaurant is still doing well.

“The price of cheese hasn’t changed how much people order so you just absorb the cost,” he said.

One reason the restaurant hasn’t raised prices is because of returning college students.

“When you have a higher volume of sales, it helps the cost,” DeMercado said.

Pizza Hut Inc. hasn’t changed its prices either, said Lori Dean, assistant manager at Pizza Hut, 135 E. Saginaw Rd. She said the franchise is eating the cost.

“I know it has gone up to at least a dollar a pound,” she said. “(The restaurant is) just making sure we use the correct amounts and making sure it all gets credited.”

John Partridge, professor of Food Science and Human Nutrition, said the MSU Dairy Store also is absorbing the cost.

“We are a small operation and we try to provide a product at a reasonable cost,” he said. “We try to keep our heads above water.

“In fact, we are looking at expanding our cheese sales. The new plant has been online for a few years now and we have a good product.”