Mullins Cheese has added eight dairy producers recently displaced by Grassland Dairy.
Mullins Cheese, with two plants in central Wisconsin is the largest family-owned and operated cheese manufacturer in Wisconsin.
“We’re already at capacity but we’re going a little over board,” says Bill Mullins, co-owner of Mullins Cheese. He said the added dairies will equate to about an extra 100,000-pounds per day. “We just built a new plant last year and we’re running at about 7.2 million pounds per day, so this will top it off.”
Through this supply crisis Mullins says he’s fielded calls from producers across the state. A key part of the decision to add these 8 dairies was their location. Mullins had a milk hauler in the area where these dairies are located who has capacity to pick up the milk. “We did quality checks on these dairies before we signed them on and all are top-quality dairies,” Mullins says. “We have over-bought for the short term, but for the long term this really fits the needs of our area.”
Unfortunately there still remains a significant number of producers looking for a milk market as a result of lost contracts with Canadian buyers of ultrafiltered milk. As many as 100 producers have been effected, with most having until May 1 to find new markets.
By: Mike Opperman
Source: Farm Journal’s MILK