The decline in milk consumption has resulted in New England dairy farmers to find unusual ways to dispose of unsold milk.
According to Bloomberg, several dairy processing plants are churning out more milk than ever. However, farmers are still unable to find buyers for their raw milk.
Agri-Mark senior vice president Bob Wellington confirmed that finding a buyer has been a problem.
"Usually we'd find someone to buy it at a reduced price, or ship it to the Midwest,"he said. "But those plants are full. There's no way to process it in the time needed for a perishable product."
Agri-Mark, which was founded in 1913 in Andover, Massachusetts, has reportedly dumped of 12 truckloads of skim milk into holes made for livestock manure disposal. That's an astounding 600,000 pounds of milk down the drain.
A study by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has previously announced that Americans are drinking less milk.
"In this study, ERS researchers find that declining consumption since the 1970s reflects changes in the frequency of fluid milk intake, rather than changes in portions," the report said.
"USDA survey data collected between 1977 and 2008 reveal that Americans are less apt to drink fluid milk with their midday and nighttime meals than in earlier years, reducing the total number of consumption occasions per day."
The decline in milk consumption is in dire contrast of the rise in domestic output. USDA has reported that the US produced 18.4 billion pounds of milk in May, which is the highest volume of production this year.
According to the USDA, global milk production is expected to increase to as much as 582.52 million tons. New Zealand remains to be the top milk exporter.
Unfortunately, the demand for milk is gradually getting lower. "The world needs less milk," Highground Dairy president Eric Meyer has said.
