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Financial pain on dairy farms being felt by neighbors

The financial pain endured on many dairy farms is being felt by surrounding communities.

South Dakota dairy farmer and Midwest Dairy chairman Allen Merrill says several years of negative margins has taken a toll on dairy farmers and their neighbors.

“You just talk to some of the people that we use (who) service dairy farmers, numerous people have told me bills are being slow to be paid and accounts receivable are larger. So that does effect things.”

He tells Brownfield many of those businesses are forced to make up for lost income.

“Worse case scenario (is) you’ll see some of those service businesses go out of business also, and they have to figure out how to make it work just like the dairymen are. They’re all going through the same challenges right now.”

Merrill says he and other dairy farmers continue to make tweaks, but it’s becoming more difficult to remain profitable.