DFA to stop marketing independent farms’ milk

Approximately 225 independent milk producers in the Mideast marketing order have until Nov. 30 to find a new home for their milk. The dairymen received letters from Dairy Farmers of America’s Dairy Marketing Services, dated May 15, informing them that the cooperative will no longer market the independent producers’ milk. The farmers will receive a six-month notice of termination. The farmers will have the option of joining DFA or finding another market by Nov. 30, 2017. This action will affect approximately 92 farms in Ohio; 85 farms in Indiana; 35 in Pennsylvania; six in New York; four in West Virginia; and one in Kentucky. These farms contribute roughly 10 percent of the milk marketed by DMS in Federal Order 33. Dairy Marketing Services said growth in the region’s milk supply and declining consumer demand for fluid milk products has triggered a supply-demand imbalance, particularly in the eastern United States.