How a Pennsylvania dairy farm stayed in business during the pandemic - Business Insider

received a call from Schneider's, the milk company they partnered with, letting the Browns know that they wouldn't be out as scheduled to pick up the farm's supply. Typically, the milk company sent a truck every other day to pick up 300 to 400 gallons at a time. Not only would the truck not arrive as scheduled, there was also no estimated date projected for when services would resume.

The Browns 70-cow dairy produces about 1,000 gallons of milk each week. Mary Beth estimated that before the pandemic, the farm shipped about 60% to the milk company and processed the remaining 40% with a 30-gallon stainless steel container called a pasteurizing vat. The couple quickly learned the milk company was taking two-thirds of their raw milk, meaning they had more to process on site than anticipated.

In early May, the Browns purchased a 45-gallon vat. While the capacity was only 15 gallons more, it allows them to process more product at one time. The couple has plans for another upgrade to a 100-gallon holding tank to further increase efficiency. On May 13, a community member made a $1,000 anonymous donation to help offset the cost of a 100-gallon holding tank, which is estimated to cost more than $25,000.

With fewer than 100 cows, the farm helped his parents sustain a family of four children. In 2016, Ben and Mary Beth bought the farm, and by then it was impossible to support the family on payments, called milk checks, that are paid by the processing companies. "It is such a shift from milk check payments and we are getting adjusted to paying bills differently, but we are seeing the financial benefit," Mary Beth said. "We have cut out the middleman."Margins in the dairy industry are razor thin. The prices farmers are paid are determined by complicated federal formulas, leaving farmers little room for negotiation.

“were forced” Sure...

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