With the school year ending and fluid milk orders down, milk supplies are running high, especially in the Midwest where the spring flush has been extended with cooler temperatures. Surplus milk was being discounted between $4 and $11 per hundredweight below the Class III price as cheesemakers remained at or near processing capacity. Milk handlers had trouble finding homes for extra loads, forcing some milk dumping.
Producers impacted
For producers like Minnesota’s Mitch Thompson, it’s not the first time he’s experienced milk dumping. Previous cases, however, were related to snowstorms which prevented transporting milk in winter.
“This is the first time in my life we had to dump milk in good weather,” Thompson said, noting that over 100,000 pounds of milk from his farm was dumped during the first part of June. “Even my employees have asked what’s happening. They wonder if they did something wrong or if there’s something wrong with the milk.”
On June 2, the first truckload was land-applied to a neighbor’s freshly harvested rye field. On June 5, a load made it to the processing plant but remained on the truck all day, waiting for space in the facility. It was eventually returned to Thompson’s farm, where it was dumped into the manure lagoon. By that time, another tank was full and was also dumped into the lagoon.
While being compensated for the dumped milk, it results in a losing situation for the producer, the creamery and his cooperative, Thompson said.
“If this continues or turns into a long-term problem, I’m not sure what we would do or where we would go with it,” Thompson said. “Hopefully this is a fluke thing with more milk around right now and demand slowing; it’s all catching everyone. It’s my neighbors and other cooperatives. It’s one thing to see it happen on other farms, and you really don’t want it to happen to anybody, but once you experience that, it hits. This is my livelihood, and it gets difficult to see all the hard work go down the drain, literally. I love milk.”
Hastings issue separate
A separate situation lending to milk dumping in Minnesota resulted when Hastings Creamery was blocked from discharging into the Hastings wastewater treatment facility. Currently, the creamery is hauling wastewater to a plant in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
“We have unfortunately recorded seven notices of violations of industrial waste permits from the Hastings Creamery in the past eight months,” said Terri Dresen, director of communications with the Metropolitan Council, a regional policy-making body, planning agency and provider of essential services in a seven-county metro area. “As a result, effective June 4, 2023, we suspended the creamery’s ability to discharge industrial waste for treatment at the Hastings wastewater treatment plant for a minimum of 30 days.
“The release of prohibited materials put the wastewater treatment plant in imminent danger and could compromise the health and safety of the Hastings community,” she said. “We continue to work with the Hastings Creamery, the city of Hastings and Minnesota Department of Agriculture to find a solution that supports local milk producers while protecting community water supply.”
Northeast FMMO approves temporary dumping
While the Midwest appears to have the greatest milk surplus problem, it’s a reoccurring seasonal issue in the Northeast Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO), where temporary dumping has again been authorized for a period beginning May 10 through July 17, 2023. While approved in May, the monthly Northeast FMMO report did not list any dumped milk volumes.
Disposal: a COVID-19-era reminder
The most memorable, widespread concern over milk dumping occurred during the early COVID-19 outbreak, which affected milk demand and plant capacity to process it. That led to changes in management related to milk handling and disposal, including implementation of emergency action plans.
Following are steps identified in a Progressive Dairy article, Dumping milk? Consider these recommendations
Information was sourced from the University of Minnesota, Cornell’s PRO-DAIRY program, Penn State University Extension and others.
Record milk volume
Where milk dumping becomes necessary, producers are urged to have haulers or handlers record milk volumes and take samples to conduct quality and component tests. That data could be necessary for the farmer to receive payment and may be required to be identified as “marketed” milk under risk management programs.
Dumped milk weights will be reported to the USDA and incorporated into milk production totals, which are a factor used to calculate quarterly milk income under the Dairy Revenue Protection (Dairy-RP) program.
In addition, the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) milk production estimates may be used when adjusting annual milk production history increases allowed under the Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the USDA announced FMMO flexibility for the disposal of milk to limit the financial impact to producers. Milk historically associated with an FMMO was allowed to be dumped at the farm and still be priced and pooled on an FMMO.
Historically, some FMMOs such as the Northeast have authorized the temporary pooling of milk disposed or “dumped” on farms or other non-plant locations during the spring flush, when milk supplies exceeded processing capacity. In those cases, dumped milk volumes are reported under a marketing area’s monthly statistical reports and priced at the lowest class price when calculating the FMMOs blend price.
Disposal methods
Should dumping become necessary, there are several methods, with different concerns.
- Down the drain. Emptying a bulk tank directly into a floor drain is possible if the milking center is plumbed directly to manure storage. However, if the drain goes to any specific milking center treatment system, the additional energy in the milk will overwhelm any designed treatment system (septic tank, leach field, aerobic lagoon, vegetative treatment area, etc.) The result will be a failed system that will either clog, stink and/or kill off any beneficial biological activity.
- Manure storage. Consider a couple of other impacts when diverting milk to manure storage areas.
- Draining it into an under-the-barn storage area is not recommended, as the energy in the milk will accelerate decomposition and could cause gas buildup coming up into the barn.
- Pumping milk into a manure lagoon is likely the most convenient method of dumping. However, the excess milk can deplete manure storage capacity.
What about digesters?
In some cases, milk could be mixed with manure and added to an anaerobic digester before being sent to storage. While a biodigester may be an attractive way to decrease the potential of unfavorable odors from disposed milk, dairy farmers should consult with the digester’s manufacturer first.
Adding milk may lead to shifts in the system’s microbial community, and some studies show that adding milk to digesters may increase gas production but not necessarily methane content.
Farms with a renewable natural gas contract may also have an agreement that prohibits offsite substrates from being added to the digester. Dairy producers with an agreement with an outside entity should double check that milk or other substrates are allowed.
Land application
One practical utilization for unshipped milk is land application, especially as crops come off fields. While direct land application of milk would be possible, there are several reasons it is recommended that the milk be mixed with manure first.
The same high nutrient value of milk that makes it such a valued food source also comes into play when disposing of it. Milk contains about 44 pounds of nitrogen (N), 18 pounds of phosphorus (P2O5), and 15 pounds of potassium (K2O) per 1,000 gallons. Whether directly applied or mixed with manure, milk’s nitrogen and phosphorous content adds to runoff concerns.
Milk also has a high biological oxygen demand (BOD), meaning that as microbes in water decomposed the milk, they will consume large amounts of oxygen needed by aquatic organisms. Consider cautious setbacks on lands with good conservation practices for manure application with high milk content.
Depending on the milk-to-manure ratio, there may be a higher-than-normal odor factor from a manure-milk mixture due to the high energy content of milk, especially during agitation and land application. Farms with the capability to inject or incorporate the resulting manure-milk mix, instead of surface applications, may be able to manage odors and potential fly issues.
Consider application away from neighbors who could be impacted by odors or flies.
Nutrient management plans
Beyond physically storing and handling waste milk, environmental regulations are also a factor. Adding a significant amount of milk to manure may mean that nutrient or manure management plans will need to be revised. It is highly recommended that producers communicate with their plan writer and conservation district if large volumes of milk will be added to manure and later applied to farmland.
For concentrated animal confinement operations (CAFOs) with larger manure storage capacities, taking milk produced at other farms must be accounted for. It is important to talk to your nutrient management planner about how to manage additional nutrients coming to, or not being exported from, the farm.
It is also advisable to check state laws or local ordinances before dumping milk. Some state statutes define agricultural waste and food waste differently.
