By JAMIE SEARS RAWLINGS

Kentucky Correspondent

CRESTWOOD, Ky. — For more than a half-century, Bob Klingenfus produced milk for Dean Foods, the largest dairy company in the United States. “I started when I was 16,” he recalled.

The long relationship between Klingenfus’ farm, Harvest Home Dairy, and Dean Foods came to an abrupt end, however, when he received a letter in early spring canceling his contract.

More than 100 milk producers across the eastern U.S. received the same letter. Even several months later, Klingenfus is still at a loss for words about it. When pressed, he said only that it was “upsetting and disappointing” to see his contract revoked by his longtime processor and distributor.

Last week, the Kentucky Dairy Development Council (KDDC) and the Governor’s Office of Agricultural Policy announced that after several months of searching, Klingenfus – along with 10 other dairies in Kentucky – have finally found a market for the milk they previously sold to Dean.

According to the agencies, Scioto Milk Producers Cooperative from Hillsboro, Ohio, United Dairy, Inc. in Charleston, W.Va., and Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) Southeast Area Council in Kansas City have signed new contracts with the 11 dairies.

“The bottom line is that this gave the dairy farmers an opportunity to have a choice,” said Maury Cox, executive director of the KDDC. “They could stay in or they could get out of the business themselves, but at least it was their choice, then.”

In fact, eight of the 19 dairies affected by the Dean cuts in Kentucky did get out of the business prior to the deals, a move that Cox called “unfortunate.” He began work trying to broker new markets for the jilted dairy farmers immediately, but the initial outlook was grim.

“We worked very hard for a very long time to try to find someplace to go with the milk,” he said. “We didn’t find any place in Kentucky that would take the milk, and primarily, the reason given was supply.”

Cox believes the fourth-quarter moves by Scioto, United Dairy and DFA-Southeast were the result of a number of factors. According to him, Scioto was able to reach an agreement with United Dairy, a processor, to “find room for at least one load of milk a day.”

At nearly the same time, he said DFA-Southeast lost a large Kentucky producer, clearing the way for it to offer a market to four of the orphaned producers.

“At DFA, we care about family farms and have felt sincere concern for those farmers in Kentucky who faced losing a market,” said Randy McGinnis, senior vice president and chief operating officer for its Central, Southeast and Southwest areas.

“DFA membership decisions are handled on a regional basis and evaluated based on a number of factors, including farms in the area, milk volumes, supply and demand conditions and milk quality. Based on current supply and demand in this area, we’re happy to be in a position to offer membership to more than one-third of those affected farms in Kentucky that are continuing operations.”

In addition, Cox believes two uncontrollable factors contributed to the deal. “It was the first week of the extreme heat, and when heat hits cows, they will drop back as much as five to 10 pounds per cow,” he explained. “With that heat, that opened the door for some need for some more milk.

“Also, I believe strongly in prayer. There were a lot of folks that were praying for this.”

For his part, Klingenfus is cautiously optimistic about his relationship with Scioto and United Dairy. “They are very laid-back and down-to-earth people, the ones we’ve met anyway,” he said of his new partners.

The good news of a market is tempered somewhat for Klingenfus by the extra costs he will face in transporting his milk out of state. “When times get low, that extra hauling cost may make some consider quitting,” he said. “There will be times when it gets low – it is low now.

“I think they’ll be fair to us, but having to haul our milk an extra 250 miles is a cost that makes it more difficult for us to sustain ourselves.”

The 11 newly-contracted Kentucky producers began milk pickup on July 16, a signal to Cox of the new face of his state’s dairy industry.

“As much as anything,” he said, “this feels like somewhat of a transition time for us.”