Farmers Dumping Food Despite Retail Demand

Disruptions to the supply chain caused by the coronacrisis are forcing farmers to discard large quantities of milk and other food – even when there’s a demand for it in grocery stores.

Milk, eggs, bacon and other foodstuffs are getting dumped because of massive shutdowns of restaurants, institutions and other foodservice locales due to the coronavirus situation. Even though consumers are preparing more food at home and are clamoring for those foods in supermarkets, processors have not been able to pivot quickly enough from foodservice to retail channels to meet farmers’ schedules.

Dairy Farmers of America, the agricultural cooperative that is the largest purchaser of American milk, and other ag co-ops have been directing farmers to dump milk because they can’t afford to pick it up. Widespread school closures in particular have deprived the liquid milk industry of a major market. The Wall Street Journal reports that producers have at least 10% more milk than can be marketed.

Other farmers are plowing under fields of vegetables because the fast-food and other restaurants that would normally buy their lettuce, tomatoes, onions and other products can’t use them now. The problem is especially acute for products like milk and vegetables that can’t be frozen or otherwise put into long-term storage.