Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Nations largest creamery Land O'Lakes files bankruptcy

I am involved the ag world. This is bad news for dairy farmers and farmers who produce feed commodities to feed dairy cows

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/com...or-bankruptcy/ar-BBWEnS3?ocid=spartandhp

Dean Foods, America's largest milk producer, is filing for bankruptcy.
The 94-year-old company has struggled in recent years because Americans are drinking less cows milk. 2019 has been a particularly brutal: the company's sales tumbled 7% in the first half of the year, and profit fell 14%. Dean Foods stock has lost 80% this year
The company, which makes some of the country's most recognizable milk and dairy products, including Dairy Pure, Organic Valley and Land O'Lakes, has blamed its struggles on the "accelerated decline in the conventional white milk category."
The company is saddled with debt and has been unable to fund all of its workers' pensions. So on Tuesday, Dean Foods filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to keep the business operating, reorganize its debt and help fund the pensions while it looks to sell the company.
Dean Foods said in a statement that it is working with the Dairy Farmers of America cooperative on a potential deal, in which the cooperative would buy almost all of the company.
As part of the bankruptcy process, the company secured $850 million in financing from its existing lenders, including Rabobank, to keep the company running.
Once a staple of the American refrigerator, milk has slowly fallen out of favor with consumers as they seek less-sugary or plant-based alternatives.
The global market for milk alternatives is expected to top $18 billion this year, up 3.5% from 2018, according to Euromonitor. That's still a fraction of the traditional milk market which will come in at just under $120 billion globally this year.
That's not the only problem Dean Foods has faced. Walmart, which was one of Dean Food's biggest customers, dropped them last year after building its own dairy plant.

we go thru about 3 gallons of whole milk a week and use real butter to cook with everything

screw that almond milk horseshit

Walmart is good at doing that. In fact all the major chains are pretty good at favoring their own brands over other major brand products. More profits.

Our area is being killed by this, Dean Foods was huge.

Good ol’ Wallyworld...bringing decimation to small towns everywhere!

Sorry to hear this. They make good butter. I can easily use a whole stick on 4 sweet potatoes at one sitting. Sweet potatoes or corn bread are a good excuse to eat butter. I'm lucky having no cholesterol issues.

Guessing that the Land O Lakes Brand won't go away.
What's next for the Walmarts? Beef farming[or are they already there]?

I almost exclusively drink raw, un-homogenized, whole milk, between one and two gallons per week.

If they had connections to a prominent politician they could cry Too big to fail! and get bailed out.

We drink real milk. As almond growers though, it is great when you can sell your waste for profit and have it become "milk".

Ironically, 10 years ago, all that waste was sold for nothing to dairy farms as feed.

Land o Lakes is the only brand of butter I buy, and I use lots of it. I always keep between eight and twelve sticks on hand. Blood tests are normal. Just had a test last week. It’s been known for a while now that dietary cholesterol has no impact on blood cholesterol.

That can put a serious hit on an area's economy. I know what it would do here. Southern ID has about 1/2 million cows within 100 miles of Twin Falls. The major products are cheese with a huge amount going to Chobani yogurt. ID is 3d in milk production behind CA and WI, quite a ways behind them, actually. I don't know how big dairies are in CA & WI, but in ID, the average dairy is 1200 cows with a few as large as 10,000.

Around here, if you're looking for rural property to buy, you want to spend considerable time looking at aerial photos to make sure the place isn't downwind of a large dairy. Some of the properties are for sale because they aren't livable.

Why is it Walmart's fault that they didn't want to pay Dean's price for milk? Isn't that free enterprise? Knock it off, ya commies.

Pajama boys drink soy milk.

They eschew anything to do with animals.

I have to wonder if soy type vegan proponents realize how many animals are displaced by raising corn and soy beans to produce their ethanol and tofu.

Dang! That sucks!

Bummer, we buy their butter

Not sure it's completely The Walmarts fault, but it's what The Walmarts puts a supplier through to become a vendor there-ramp up production, cut cost[to The Walmarts].

Have to admit that I don’t buy their butter. The French cultured butter from Trader Joe’s is much better. Alas, the little milk I buy is store brand too.

I don't buy it, I buy the Walmart brand. 🤣