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Farm and Dairy
Why milk is being dumped right now
By Rachel Wagoner
April 4, 2020
There are photos on social media of dairy farmers dumping milk down the
drain because processors have no market for it. At the same time,
photos are appearing of grocery stores signs saying customers must
limit their milk purchases.
That doesn’t make sense. What’s the deal?
It’s complicated, but basically the industry got turned on end when the
COVID-19 crisis hit the U.S. People in the industry are working to
right the ship, but it’s been a challenge to pivot quickly enough.
At first, people stocked up on dairy products, especially fluid milk,
like never before. That left empty shelves in the dairy section.
Grocery stores responded by setting quantity limits on milk purchases
so they didn’t run out again.
Zippy Duvall, American Farm Bureau Federation president, said on a
media call April 3 that he personally reached out to Walmart asking
them about their milk purchasing limits.
It’s gotten to the point that the American Dairy Association Mideast is
asking people to report stores in Ohio and West Virginia that are
putting quantity limits on milk purchases. If you see a store limiting
milk purchases, take a picture, note the location, date and time and
send it to Erin.Brown@Drink-Milk.com.
What’s going on at grocery stores is an issue of incredibly high
demand, not low supply. The U.S. does NOT have an issue with milk
supply. If you like drinking milk, that’s the good news. There’s lots
to go around. That’s also the bad news.
Many dairy processors lost markets for their milk and other products as
schools and restaurants were forced to close. Food service, schools and
universities are big customers for many processors.
On top of that, milk production in cows naturally rises in the spring. It’s called the “spring flush.”
Hence, the surplus of milk. Milk, being a highly perishable commodity,
can’t just sit around in a silo until the market recovers and schools
reopen.
While milk can be diverted over to be put in half gallons and gallons —
which seem to be in demand with lots of families stuck at home — making
that switch takes time. Some processors can’t take on anymore, so
they’re asking farmers to dump some of their milk.
Dairy plants are also dealing with the same issues other businesses are
with keeping the workforce healthy. Employees are calling off sick or
due to lack of childcare issues (since the schools are out, remember).
Some plants are doing modified runs to allow for social distancing and
taking more downtime to ensure proper sanitization to protect
employees.
That also doesn’t help processors with products that were already
packaged for schools and food service customers, like milk in half pint
cartons or shredded cheese in bulk.
One question that’s popped up is why can’t milk be donated to a food
bank instead of being dumped? Well, because it still has to be
processed first. That’s an issue if processors are having trouble
keeping up as is. Milk and other dairy products are being donated when
and where it’s possible, but that’s not a solution for every dairy.
In response to these issues, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said it
would relax some rules within the Federal Milk Marketing Order program
if requested, including allowing milk to be dumped and still priced and
pooled on the order to limit financial impacts on producers. That
doesn’t guarantee farmers will be paid for dumped milk, but it’s the
first step in the process.
The Ohio Department of Agriculture issued guidance to farmers on how to
properly dispose of excess milk. That guidance can be found here.
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