The "The Demise Of Lancaster County Milk Farms" Story

It was an ordinary day.  About three months ago I wrote a story about the Amish and Mennonite milk producing farmers in Lancaster County having trouble making ends meet.  

At the time they were worried they may have to sell off their herds of milk-producing cows to begin raising a more profitable crop.  They blamed a multi-year downward spiral in milk prices as the reason.  Government control in setting low prices has caused huge losses for the dairy farmers.  Many farmers are planning to use the forage they produced last growing season and then sell their herds of dairy cows.  

Amish farmer feeding his herd.

Being that no other farmers may be interested in buying them due to the low milk prices, they may have to sell them for beef cattle prices which is much lower than milk producing cows.  One of the main problems for Lancaster County farmers is the lack of a milk processing plant in the state.  Farmers must now truck their milk to other states for processing.  That cost is very high, making their profit very low.  And, the younger farmers can't take the loss.  

Amish farmer preparing to milk his cows.

Pennsylvania is one of the largest milk-producing states in the country and losing an entire generation of milk farmers could be catastrop- hic.  Lancaster County farmers will meet soon with the Pennsylvania Agricultural Secretary and the processing plant will be on the top of the list for the farmers.  One of the big reasons the farmers are having problems is the excess amount of milk there is.  More and more people are switching to almond and soy milk than ever before.  But, do they realize that those products are actually juice and don't have the same nutritional value that whole, 2% or non-fat milk does.  

The dairy herd in Lancaster County may disappear.

Low milk prices,  scant profits and less expensive foreign milk production are really hurting the farmers.  When spring arrives will there be a big sell off of their dairy cows?  As I drive the miles and miles of roads in Lancaster County farmland I fear they may no longer look as they do in the near future.  Those farming the land may have to leave farming and enter other trades.  The small individual farmer is losing ground to the large milk cooperatives which act as unions.  Will the Amish and Mennonite farms survive all the problems that face them at present?  I'm hoping so, but it doesn't look good.  The famous saying "Got Milk" may be a thing of the past soon in Lancaster County.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.