The day before Christmas, dairy producers Kent and Coreena Meyer opened a letter from their milk processor, Wakefern Food Corp., owner of Readington Farms in Whitehouse Station, N.J., informing them they no longer would be picking up their milk.
The Meyer family is one of 150 farmers who ship their milk to Readington Farms and said they had heard rumblings of this a few days earlier but were completely blindsided when they received the letter on Christmas Eve.
Located in Loganton, Penn., Meyer Dairy Farm LLC is home to 220 milk cows, 200 plus replacement heifers and 450 acres of corn, alfalfa and grass. The Meyers have shipped their milk to Readington for more than 30 years.
Readington Farms was founded in 1888 as Durling Farms, a milk bottler in Pottersville, N.J., produces milk, bottled water, orange juice, iced tea and other drinks for more than 350 ShopRite and Price Rite grocery stores, along with QuikCheck convenience stores in the Mid-Atlantic and New England.
The plant remained in the Durling family for four generations before being sold to Wakefern in 1990. No decision has been made on what to do with the Readington Farms plant that processes 15,000 gallons of milk per hour.
Karen O’Shea, a Wakefern spokeswoman stated, “After evaluating our existing capabilities and the changing consumer demand for milk and plant-based options, we recognized the need to have a facility that could produce a broader variety of beverages.”
Arden Tewksbury, manager of Progressive Agriculture Organization, questioned if producers should have seen the train coming in an opinion guest editorial. “Maybe I should have because I witnessed a new name on ShopRite products, including milk,” he shares. “The [brand] name on the containers was changed to ‘bowl and basket’.”
Tewksbury is in disbelief that Readington would notify their dairy producers of this closing during Christmas. “This is not the Readington I have known for more than 20 years,” he notes.
The Meyer family recalls Readington mentioned several years ago they were evaluating future growth, including the plan to add a larger facility in Pennsylvania and stated getting this letter was a total shock. They quickly needed to figure out which route to go with their milk.
The same day as this interview, the Meyers had received a note from their milk hauler, stating that the last pick-up would be February 15th. Later that day, a certified letter from Readington arrived informing them on the very same news. Readington also encouraged its producers to discuss the next steps and that they would not automatically be transitioned to a processor.
DFA has seven fluid milk plants in Wakefern’s territory, O’Shea said. While Readington did put DFA contact information on the letter to its patrons, it clearly stated that producers would need to contact DFA or other processors to find a new home for their milk.
The Meyers shares they have three processor options and are doing their homework to figure out which one would best suit them. Those processors are Dairy Farmers of America, Lanco-Pennland or Maryland and Virginia Milk Producers.
The Meyers milk quality is exceptional, with a somatic cell count hovering around 67,000 and P.I. counts less than 2,000. “Everyone has said they would love to take us on,” Coreena states. “Really, we are looking at the options closely and it’s more of where we will take the least hit, not which one is the most comparable with Readington.”
Readington patrons’ premiums are now being reduced from .75/cwt to .25/cwt, effective for January’s milk. Those premiums were established a long time ago and were given to each of its producers. According to Meyer, the premiums previously range between $1.00/cwt to $1.50/cwt but decreased to .75/cwt in 2021.
“It’s really hard to do a comparison because so much is changing,” the Meyers note. “It’s not like we can compare apples to apples.”
While the Meyers are looking to decide where to ship their milk sooner rather than later, they advise other producers in the same boat to do their homework before making a decision on which company to ship to. They encourage producers to look at co-op fees, hauling expenses, base penalties and over-based deduction.
“We are comparing November final milk checks to see which company to go with,” Kent says. “Readington was also increasing hauling costs and reducing premiums, so I have no idea what our next two milk checks will look like before we switch companies.”
Prior to the dreadful Christmas letter arrival, the Meyers were hoping the New Year would be a better year for their dairy farm. With increased costs – from veterinary bills to dairy supplies to feed bills – they were looking forward to higher milk prices. “We just pray that milk price climbs fast enough to keep up with the inflated costs,” Coreena states.
The Meyers farm is in partnership with their son, Kyle, who represents the fifth generation of dairy farmers. Kyle’s 9-year-old son, Adam, is the potential sixth generation – and the Meyer family is trying to stay positive for their future but feels overwhelmed with all they have recently been through.
“This all has been disheartening, frustrating and totally devastating to have this happen and dealt with so poorly, especially after shipping to them for more than 30 years,” Coreena shares. “Readington was a very good place for us to ship our milk to for many years when Don Merrigan was in charge. Up until this fiasco, Readington has always been sought after by producers as the premier milk market and we were happy with them.”
