America’s dairy farmers are having a hard time right now and many have seen a crash in milk prices amid the coronavirus. Many farmers also have major problems with getting their product out on the market full stop.
This has resulted in some dairy operations being forced to dump their cows’ milk. One such dairy farm who faced this problem was Whoa Nellie Dairy Farm, in Pennsylvania.
When they found out their milk distributor wouldn’t be picking up their milk order, they were left with two options: dump the results of 12 milkings down the drain or bottle it and try to sell it themselves.
“My husband and I just came up with that mission to try to bottle it all. Even though we knew we had a tiny pasteurizing system, we just thought we’d make it a mission to get it all bottled without dumping any,” Mary Beth Brown told WPXI.com.
The family-owned farm refused to dump and waste 30 gallons of their precious milk, so they immediately turned their the farm into a 24-hour operation.
“Dumping milk down the drain right now when people are struggling, I just feel that’s a huge waste,” Brown told Herald Standard, stating that half of their milk supply goes to Schneider’s and the other half is bottled and sold by the farm and sent to other retail outlets.
“We decided to try to not waste it.”
They worked around the clock and bottled as much as they possibly could. Mary’s idea was to sell the milk directly to the public – but would it work?
Well, it actually seems like it has.
Even before the farm opened for direct consumer sales, locals were lining up to buy fresh milk. The Whoa Nellie Dairy Farm sold out completely in just a matter of hours.
The line to get in the store was at least 20 customers deep, according to local media reports.
All customers were keeping their social distance and stayed at least 6 feet apart while they waited to buy fresh milk and other locally-produced dairy products, including cheeses, cottage cheese, sour cream and maple syrup.
“People are standing in the cold for over an hour for milk,” Mary Beth Brown told local media.
“They just want to support us. I believe we have that spirit among us that they want to see America succeed.”
Adapt and overcome. This is a prime example. Just like the old days, bottled and delivered with care.
I would support it if it was available locally!
