{"id":30912,"date":"2026-09-25T14:02:42","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T14:02:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/30912\/"},"modified":"2026-09-25T14:02:42","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T14:02:42","slug":"milk-plant-closures-raise-new-fears-for-vermont-dairy-farms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/30912\/","title":{"rendered":"Milk plant closures raise new fears for Vermont dairy farms"},"content":{"rendered":"

A spate of similar plant closures this summer has stunned those whose livelihoods depend on Vermont\u2019s signature dairy industry, not least because it comes as protein is enjoying such a moment among consumers that producers in other states are racing to build facilities and boost output. The damage has been concentrated in Franklin County, a verdant stretch of the Champlain Valley near the Canadian border. The county is long known as Vermont\u2019s dairy capital.<\/p>\n

Perrigo, the multinational pharmaceutical company, laid off 162 workers in June at its infant formula plant in the town of Georgia, part of a phased shutdown that\u2019s expected to claim about 420 Vermont jobs by next year. The national cooperative Dairy Farmers of America is preparing to idle its St. Albans plant this month, eliminating 80 jobs. Elsewhere in the state, HP Hood closed its Booth Bros. Dairy plant in Barre this spring, laying off 70 people. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe haven\u2019t experienced anything like this in decades,\u201d said Tim Smith, executive director of the Franklin County Industrial Development Corporation.<\/p>\n

\"AA dairy barn on the outskirts of Enosburgh, Vt.Ian Thomas Jansen-Lonnquist for The Boston Globe<\/p>\n

Vermont dairy farms have been closing and consolidating for decades. What\u2019s new, and unnerving, is that the plants that process the milk are now closing, too, triggering fears of a vicious circle that could claim yet more farms. The closures are forcing farmers to ship their milk to plants much farther afield, incurring higher transportation costs that threaten to consume more of their already paltry milk checks. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s felt like quite a blow,\u201d said Whitney Hull, a dairy herd management educator for the University of Vermont Extension. \u201cDairy farmers are upset, and they\u2019re frustrated, and they\u2019re like, \u2018What does this mean for us?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps most confounding to Vermonters is that the closures have come as the dairy industry is booming elsewhere in the country \u2014 fueled by the nation\u2019s protein obsession and ever-growing dairy exports. As processors try to keep pace, they\u2019re building plants in states better poised than Vermont to rapidly scale up production. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a demand for milk processing plants, but none are in New England,\u201d said Mary White, a Corinth dairy farmer and president of the Vermont Farm Bureau. <\/p>\n

The problem, according to Vermont Secretary of Agriculture Anson Tebbetts, is that milk production in the state has remained stubbornly stagnant for years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe essentially need more cows,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

But many Vermont farmers are loath to take on the debt required to expand, given the many challenges of recent years: soaring energy costs, increased immigration enforcement, drought, and floods among them. They\u2019re calling on the state to provide more support for the industry, perhaps by subsidizing investments in equipment and facilities. <\/p>\n

The outlook isn\u2019t entirely gloomy for Vermont dairy. More farmers are processing their own products, adding sources of revenue; cheesemakers continue to earn national recognition. And companies such as Monument Farms in Weybridge are bypassing regional and national cooperatives by bottling and trucking their own milk. <\/p>\n

In Enosburgh, Ovitt is similarly striving to control his own destiny. When he learned Hochland would shutter the plant, he offered to buy it. In September, he plans to reopen the operation as Franklin County Cheese.<\/p>\n

As a condition of the deal with Hochland, Ovitt is barred from producing its primary product, cream cheese, for 10 years. But he\u2019ll take over contracts for two niche, yet profitable, products: bakers cheese and plant-based Tofutti. He\u2019s seeking out new clients and, in the meantime, plans to rent out space in his refrigerated warehouse and clean the tanks of milk trucks, as required between each load. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just trying to stabilize the ship, keep this beast going,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

At first, Ovitt will be able to employ only around 20 people, but he\u2019s hoping to hire back more if the business is able to grow.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs far as I know, there\u2019s been no interruptions since 1899,\u201d he said of the plant. \u201cIt\u2019s an old facility, but we\u2019re gonna try and keep it going.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"BakersBakers cheese inside the Franklin Foods refrigerated warehouses. When Franklin Foods closes and reopens as Franklin Country Cheese, the company will no longer produce cream cheese.Ian Thomas Jansen-Lonnquist for The Boston Globe<\/p>\n

If you build it<\/p>\n

America\u2019s growing appetite for dairy might suggest that Vermont farmers should be milking the profits. <\/p>\n

Over the last two years, \u201cProtein, all of a sudden, has become the star,\u201d said Christopher Wolf, a professor of agricultural economics at Cornell University\u2019s SC Johnson College of Business.<\/p>\n

Americans taking GLP-1 drugs to lose weight are incorporating it into their diets, he said, \u201cAnd everyone under the age of 30 is convinced they have to eat massive amounts of protein every day.\u201d <\/p>\n

That\u2019s great news for the dairy industry, which has been ramping up production of high-protein products, such as Fairlife\u2019s Core Power shakes, replete with 42 grams of protein per bottle. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe dairy supply chain is in a state of hyper-fluctuation at the moment,\u201d said Laura Ginsburg, dairy strategy and innovation manager for Vermont\u2019s Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets. \u201cThere\u2019s more investment happening in dairy plants at greater volumes \u2014 higher-dollar projects \u2014 than has happened within the past couple of decades.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just not in Vermont. <\/p>\n

\"ChristineChristine LaCross, a machine operator at Franklin Foods, ran one of the production lines that packages specialty cream cheese for restaurants and brands in Enosburgh.Ian Thomas Jansen-Lonnquist for The Boston Globe\"AA production line at Franklin Foods filled containers with specialty cream cheese.Ian Thomas Jansen-Lonnquist for The Boston Globe<\/p>\n

Processors used to build plants where there were already cows, Ginsburg said, but now the dynamic has reversed and they\u2019re instead seeking out locations with cheap energy, good land, and an available workforce. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey build a plant and the milk is gonna come,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

The biggest boom in the Northeast is taking place about five hours west of Vermont, in a stretch of New York from Rome to Buffalo where Chobani, Fairlife, and Great Lakes Cheese have invested in major new plants. State subsidies played a role in those companies\u2019 siting decisions, Wolf said, but a bigger factor was the availability of land that could host mega-farms of 5,000 to 10,000 cows. <\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of the processors had more confidence that New York State farms could grow to fill the plant,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s harder to scale up in a small state like Vermont, where costs are higher, land is in demand, and labor is in short supply, according to Tebbetts, the agriculture secretary.<\/p>\n

Vermont dairy has been consolidating for generations. In the 1960s, more than 6,000 farms milked an average of a couple dozen cows apiece. In the last decade alone, the number of cow dairies in the state dropped by half, from about 840 to 420, according to UVM Extension. <\/p>\n

\"AA picture of the Franklin Foods plant after it was expanded in 1993.Ian Thomas Jansen-Lonnquist for The Boston Globe<\/p>\n

And while Vermont\u2019s average herd size has grown to more than 260 cows \u2014 with some farms hosting thousands \u2014 the total number of cows in the state declined by 13 percent over the last decade, and the amount of milk produced fell by 8 percent.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile our dairy industry is very important and a big part of our economy, it\u2019s been kind of stagnant,\u201d said Tom Bellavance, a Vermont dairy farmer who also runs Ag Venture Financial Services, which lends money to dairy producers. \u201cThe challenge in Vermont is not just how do we maintain our dairy industry, but how do we grow it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s not all gravy\u2019<\/p>\n

During a smoke break outside the St. Albans Creamery, a veteran employee considered the more than two decades he\u2019d spent at the plant, including every Christmas since he graduated from high school. <\/p>\n

He knew production was down, and he was expecting a round of layoffs, but when Dairy Farmers of America announced in June it would idle the plant for the foreseeable future, the news came as \u201ca shocker,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Now, he and his colleagues are seeking work elsewhere ahead of the planned shutdown on Aug. 17 \u2014 often competing for jobs with workers at the other Franklin County plants downsizing or closing this summer. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn our county it\u2019s slim pickins looking for a job right now,\u201d said the man, who asked not to be identified for fear of spooking potential employers. <\/p>\n

\"WelcomeWelcome sign as you enter the village of Enosburg Falls.Ian Thomas Jansen-Lonnquist for The Boston Globe<\/p>\n

Dairy Farmers of America hasn\u2019t said exactly why it\u2019s idling the plant, other than that the decision \u201creflects broader operational and network changes needed to best serve our farmer-owners and customers.\u201d Some have speculated it could be related to a persistent stench that has wafted from the plant through the city, and the local Teamsters union has said it\u2019s retaliation for a 12-day strike last year \u2014 allegations the cooperative denies. <\/p>\n

Bellavance, who serves on cooperative\u2019s board, said the explanation may be simpler: The St. Albans Creamery is a \u201cbalancing plant\u201d that can take excess milk and turn it into cream, skim milk, and powder. The cooperative could make more money trucking milk to facilities that make higher-value products, such as fluid milk, including its Garelick Farms plant in Franklin, Mass., and the new plants in western New York. <\/p>\n

Harold Howrigan, a sixth-generation dairy farmer who also represents Vermont on the cooperative\u2019s board, said those higher returns will be passed along to farmers. But \u201cit\u2019s not all gravy,\u201d he said, because the farmers themselves will have to pay for the increased transportation costs. <\/p>\n

A common thread among all the Vermont plants shedding workers is that the facilities are no longer locally owned. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kind of a reflection of what happens when these big companies come in and purchase smaller companies,\u201d said Curtis Clough, president of the Teamsters\u2019 Local 597, which represents the cooperative\u2019s St. Albans workers. \u201cThey then have control over our future.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"DerickDerick Tessier, production supervisor at Franklin Foods, worked one of the production lines.Ian Thomas Jansen-Lonnquist for The Boston Globe<\/p>\n

In 1919, Franklin County farmers banded together to build the creamery next to a railroad line in downtown St. Albans so they could ship butter to Boston. A century later, the remaining members of the St. Albans Cooperative Creamery voted to merge with Kansas-based Dairy Farmers of America because they could not afford much-needed upgrades to the plant. <\/p>\n

Dairy Farmers of America is now the largest dairy cooperative in the country, with more than 9,000 farmer-owners, and it\u2019s one of the largest dairy companies in the world. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen management is in Kansas City and not in St. Albans, Vt., some decisions might be made differently,\u201d said Kevin Kouri, chair of the Vermont Dairy Producers Alliance. <\/p>\n

The next Rhode Island?<\/p>\n

More than 50 dairies once populated the Upper Valley town of Corinth, according to White, the president of the Vermont Farm Bureau. Now, hers is one of only two left standing. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s a problem because, as dairy cooperatives truck milk farther away from Vermont, they may be less inclined to pick up small loads from farms that are out of the way.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, if they say, \u2018No, you\u2019re too far out there,\u2019 we\u2019re out of business,\u201d White said. <\/p>\n

And as dairy farmers fold, the land they steward may be sold off and developed, industry advocates warn. <\/p>\n

\u201cVermont\u2019s image, Vermont\u2019s brand is highly driven by the Vermont landscape that is cared for by the Vermont dairy farmer,\u201d said Kouri, of the producers alliance. <\/p>\n

\u201cI would hate to see Vermont become Rhode Island,\u201d said Stephanie Pope, a Bridport farmer. \u201cWhen you think of Vermont, you think of open areas \u2014 and you think of farms and you think of cows on the hillsides. Do we really want to lose that? I don\u2019t think so.\u201d<\/p>\n

David Lynn, CEO of Agri-Mark cooperative, readily acknowledges that Vermont\u2019s dairy industry is facing serious stress. But, he said, \u201cAll is not lost.\u201d<\/p>\n

He thinks the state has an opportunity to lean into its \u201cdairy mystique,\u201d like the aged cheddar his co-op produces under the Cabot Creamery label. <\/p>\n

Agri-Mark continues to operate two processing plants in Vermont and is interested in investing in both of them, Lynn said, particularly if the state government helps out. <\/p>\n

Tebbetts, the agriculture secretary, said he\u2019s studying programs in Massachusetts, Maine, and New York that incentivize new processing capacity or directly support farmers. He hopes to bring a proposal to the state Legislature this winter. <\/p>\n

\u201cVermont cannot control the price of milk paid to the farmer,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat can we control? We can control taxes. We can control tax incentives. We can control loan programs. We can control regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to policy changes, Tebbetts hopes that people such as Ovitt, the Enosburgh plant manager, will succeed at localizing dairy infrastructure. And he thinks the state can realistically court mid-size processors like Commonwealth Dairy, a 16-year-old yogurt plant in Brattleboro. <\/p>\n

For those plans to succeed, farmers like Pope will need to stay in business \u2014 and potentially get bigger. She currently milks around 600 cows, and as the next generation of the family gets involved with the operation, the clan is considering investing $4 million in a new barn and milking facility that would support several hundred more cows. <\/p>\n

\u201cDo we make that investment?\u201d Pope said. \u201cIs there a future for dairy in Vermont? That\u2019s what we\u2019re asking ourselves right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"JohnJohn Ovitt, plant manager of Franklin Foods, where they make bakers cheese, Tofutti, and other specialty dairy products.Ian Thomas Jansen-Lonnquist for The Boston Globe<\/p>\n

Paul Heintz can be reached at paul.heintz@globe.com. Follow him on X @paulheintz.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A spate of similar plant closures this summer has stunned those whose livelihoods depend on Vermont\u2019s signature dairy industry, not least because it comes as protein is enjoying such a moment among consumers that producers in other states are racing to build facilities and boost output. The damage has been concentrated in Franklin County, a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":30913,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[26592,11522,26593,18714,6663,6661,6659,6662,6660],"class_list":["post-30912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-vermont","tag-23vtdairy","tag-dairy","tag-enosburg","tag-milk","tag-vermont","tag-vermont-dining","tag-vermont-food","tag-vermont-grocery-stores","tag-vermont-restaurants"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/vive.im\/@dc\/117332052809970838","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30912","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30912"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30912\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}