Most Lebanon County dairy farms survive lost Dean Foods contract

A yard sign outside Reed’s Creek Farm in Lebanon. (Min Xian/Keystone Crossroads)

(Lebanon) — Most of the 26 dairy farmers in Lebanon and Lancaster counties who abruptly lost contracts with Dean Foods in March have successfully found a new market for their milk.

Dean Foods, which owns Wengert’s Swiss Premium Dairy in North Cornwall Township, told those farmers it would stop purchasing milk from them as of May 31.

While this initially caused a panic among many farmers, 22 of the 26 were able to obtain a new contract, according to Jayne Sebright, executive director of the Pennsylvania Coalition for Dairy Excellence. The other four elected to leave the dairy industry, she said.

That’s a better outcome than farms that lost Dean Foods contracts have experienced in other states. In Kentucky, all of the milk producing farms were unable to find new markets, according to agriculture writer Sherry Bunting.

Millcreek Township dairy farmer Kirby Horst received a letter March 3 that Dean Foods will no longer purchase his milk after May 31. Horst explained the impact this would have on his family during a rally Monday at the Lebanon Valley Expo Center. Daniel Walmer

“I think it was a very positive testament to the support our farms have in Pennsylvania,” Sebright said.

Alec Dewey, son of the owner of Harrisburg Dairies, which provided new contracts to nine of the farms in Lebanon and Lancaster counties, said the beginning of summer is a bad time for a dairy to add new suppliers since demand for school milk goes away until the fall.

“It was sort of a risk on our part, taking on this many farms this time of year,” Dewey said. 

Still, it may benefit Harrisburg Dairies in the long run by providing them with more private milk sources to depend on when demand is strong – and the company felt an obligation to help those farmers, he said.

At least four Lebanon County grocery stores are also stepping up to support the dairy farmers indirectly by beginning to carry milk from Harrisburg Dairies, according to a Facebook post from Lebanon County dairy farmer Alisha Risser.

Dewey encouraged people to buy their milk from any dairy that sources its milk from local farms.

To do that, buyers can enter the dairy code of their milk carton on the website