As Dairies Dump Milk, Frustration Mounts Over Retail Buying Limits

Farmers from across the country are being asked to dump their milk this week, as the restaurant and food service demand crumbled rapidly due to COVID-19. ( Ben Butler, Twitter ) From Georgia to Pennsylvania, videos like this are flooding social media. Dairy producers are facing a devastating scenario and being forced to dump milk down the drain. For some dairy farmers, this marks a first. “This is the first time in the 32 years I’ve been in business that we’ve had to dump milk in the fields,” says Arnie VanDieden, a dairy producer in Texas. The Texas producer isn’t alone. Paul Hartman in Reading, Penn. has also been in the business more than 30 years and faced a similar scenario earlier this week. “Our dairy processor told us on Monday,” says Hartman. “They gave a letter that the driver dropped off that said they were supposed to dump our milk for the next two days; they weren't going to pick it up. Right away when we heard it, we were shocked. All we hear is the milk is in demand, the stores are having trouble getting it, and then all of a sudden, they're asking us to dump our milk. So that was kind of confusing.” The Sudden Loss of Demand Hartman’s processor told him the reason is a backup in demand. As COVID-19 hit, and industries like restaurants and food services saw an abrupt halt I business, the crisis started to unfold. “We don't have an outlet for this milk,” explains Scott Brown, economist with the University of Missouri. “Even if we have plants able to try to process that milk, there's a little reason to do it at this point due to lack of demand.” From high-end restaurants to fast food chains, fewer people are eating out and instead, staying at home due to stay-at-home orders. In turn, those consumers are eating fewer pounds of key items like butter and cheese. Therefore, a portion of the nation’s milk supply is without a home. “The decline in the food service business has not been offset by the increase in the retail side of business,” says Michael Dykes, president and CEO of International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA). “Overnight, we saw a paradigm shift and the business turned upside down.”...MORE