Apr 16, 2020 6 min read

John and Bruce Grice did something atypical at their dairy farm Wednesday night. They dumped eight tons of milk – their lifeblood, their signature product – into a manure pit on their South Franklin Township spread.

The brothers did this at an atypical time in the world, of course, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Routinely, they supply milk to Schneider’s Dairy, a processor with which they have a contract. Schneider’s, however, has a surplus and cannot take more of the product. And it does not have the option of sending excess milk, as the Whitehall dairy usually can, to a company that makes cheese. Because of tariff issues, cheese-makers have gluts as well.

So, without the capability to pasteurize or homogenize on their 400-acre tract, with a product that has a short shelf life, the brothers had one option: down into the pit. Doing so upsets John Grice, who does not take solace in the fact that dairy farmers elsewhere in Pennsylvania, and across the United States, cannot get their milk to market and are dumping as well.

“All the world’s starving and we’re dumping eight tons of food,” he said over the phone Wednesday morning, from the family’s Folly Hollow Farm. “It’s a crime. We should be able to get this to people who need it.”

Grice said he knows of no other local farms that have to do this, and he is not certain when Folly Hollow will do so again, but he realizes they have a lot of company.

Farmers have challenges these days, but perhaps none are more under siege than those in the dairy industry, where bankruptcies have been commonplace. Dairy farmers have been beset by low market prices for decades, and production costs (taxes, labor, machinery, fuel) have continued to mount. Demand for cow’s milk, especially 97% fat-free whole milk, has been down in recent years. Now some are dealing with a diminished customer base, highlighted by the virus-related closure of schools, restaurants and hotels.

Yet, amidst these many storm clouds, dairy farmers have been breaking production records.

About 12 miles northeast of Folly Hollow Farm, Marcia Minor Opp was gratified by how the “Milkman Special” was going Tuesday at SpringHouse Country Market & Restaurant. Milk isn’t plentiful at some stores, which prompted as much of a rush that responsible social distancing would allow at SpringHouse.

Social media manager Jodi Shober had posted on Facebook at 9 a.m. that a large supply of milk, at a “special price,” was available inside the store. The post generated more than 1,000 shares, prompting a strong pre-noon response by customers, according to Opp, owner/manager of the business.

SpringHouse, in the Eighty Four section of North Strabane Township, is primarily a dairy farm that handles all facets of milk production. It has a production facility that pasteurizes and homogenizes a mix of milk products – low fat, heavy cream, skim, chocolate – bottles them and places them on the store’s shelves.

“We milk our own cows and don’t want any farmer to dump milk,” Opp said. “Employees here work too hard doing everything that needs to be done to get milk. We want our customers to benefit from a surplus.”

Greater Washington County Food Bank also is benefiting. Opp said officials of the SpringHouse have decided to donate 100 gallons of milk a week to the food bank, and may increase that amount.

Rick Naczi has concerns about the dairy industry, but tempers them with hope. He is the chief executive officer of the American Dairy Association North East, which oversees 10,000 farms in six states, including Pennsylvania.

He said in a statement:

“While consumers are facing unprecedented changes in the way they live, dairy farmers are affected as well. With dramatic shifts in the distribution network, school and restaurant closures, the dairy supply chain has been disrupted.

“Half of all the cheese that’s produced is normally consumed through restaurants, and about 7% of the milk that’s produced is used for in-school meals. And while school meals are still being provided to families, it’s not nearly as much as when school is in session.

“The good news is that more consumers are preparing meals at home, so the demand for milk at grocery stores has skyrocketed. Initially, panic-buying led to limited availability in stores; however, the distribution system is catching up, products are becoming more readily available, and supply limits are few.

“Rest assured that there is no shortage of milk.”

Milk is not Mac Carter’s specialty, but he is a longtime Washington County farmer, dating to the 1940s. Carter, 82, raises crops on his Mt. Pleasant Township property, and while his 2019 products have been sold, planting for 2020 is a mere two weeks away with a growing season enshrouded in uncertainty. He is concerned about corn and bean prices, which are down and, if they drop below a certain point, “we’ll be working for nothing.”

“I don’t know how the virus is going to impact us going ahead,” said Carter, whose farm is located in the Hickory section of the township. “There are so many uncertainties we’re dealing with. We’re going to plant about the same number of acres, but we don’t know what prices will be, and what will be going on with our country by October or November (harvest season). What happens if the coronavirus comes back in the fall?

“Agriculture, as a whole, will take a hit on this. In my lifetime, I’ve never seen anything like this.”

No one has, of course, which is why John Grice is keeping things in perspective. He said he doesn’t know how much the dumping of milk is costing he, his brother and their farm. He laments the loss of a product that means so much to them, and to millions of others, but he isn’t letting that tear him asunder.

“We can’t complain,” he said. “We don’t have COVID-19, and there are not enough tears in the world to accompany the loss of life.

“We have our health, and we’ll fight with the rest of the country as well as we can.”