Small dairy farms left in lurch after hauler drops them
Eight Maine dairy farms are scrambling to find a way to get their milk to market after a hauler from Palermo told them two regional routes aren’t profitable and he will drop the farms from his collection routes, according to the Press Herald.
The farmers were told by Jesse Haskell that he most likely will drop the routes — one in southern Maine and the other in Waldo County — at the end of this month.
Haulers collect milk from dairy farms and take it to processors, including Oakhurst in Portland, according to the newspaper. The other major wholesale customer for Maine milk is H.P. Hood, which also has a processing plant in Portland.
“It leaves me in a rather awkward spot,” Tim Leary, who milks about 16 cows on his farm in Saco, told the Press Herald. “But I recognize it’s a long route and not much milk.” Leary said he produces about 1,400 pounds of milk every two days.
Julie-Marie Bickford, executive director of the Maine Dairy Industry Association, told the newspaper that finding haulers for milk is yet another problem confronting the state’s struggling dairy industry. The state had nearly 500 dairy farms a decade ago, but now has only 253.
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