Dairy Farmers of America has announced it will close its dairy ingredient facility in Pollock, in north central South Dakota.
The announcement from the company on July 18, 2024, said the closure of the plant — also referred to as DairiConcepts — will result in the elimination of 33 full-time positions and four part-time ones.
“The employees at the facility have done an excellent job producing dairy ingredients, and we appreciate all their hard work and dedication. Any decision impacting people’s livelihoods is one not taken lightly, and we will work with employees to help them through this transition,” the company said in a statement.
Dairy Farmers of America is a national, farmer-owned dairy cooperative of more than 11,000 family farm-owners. The company manufactures fluid milk, cheese, butter, ice cream, dairy ingredients and more under brands including Alta Dena Dairy, Meadow Gold Dairy, Friendly’s, Borden Cheese, Plugrá Premium Butter and Kemps.
Ag United for South Dakota lists nine dairy processing plants besides the one in Pollock as operating in South Dakota. The state has seen a big surge in dairy production in recent years . Tom Peterson, executive director of South Dakota Dairy Producers, did not immediately return a message sent seeking comment on the Dairy Farmers of America closure and its impact on the South Dakota dairy industry.
Pollock is about 90 miles from Bismarck, North Dakota, where in September 2023 Prairie Farms ceased bottling milk . The plant in Pollock was cited as one of the likely plants to absorb the milk formerly taken in by Prairie Farms, along with Cass-Clay Creamery in Fargo, North Dakota, Associated Milk Producers Inc. in Hoven, South Dakota, and Bongards in Perham, Minnesota. Bongards is in the midst of an expansion project .
Dairy Farmers of America said the decision to close the Pollock facility was made “after a careful analysis of new demand and current supply dynamics and as part of a coordinated, Cooperative-wide milk marketing and balancing optimization project.”
The company said “the raw milk volume currently received at the Pollock plant will continue to have a home at nearby production facilities, and our customers will continue to be served by our network of ingredients facilities.”
Dairy Farmers of America on its website says it operates 46 plants nationwide, including 13 in what it calls the “Central Area,” which stretches from the western borders of the Dakotas to Wisconsin on the east and from the Canadian border to Oklahoma. The Pollock plant was one of seven ingredients plants in the region, with four others in Minnesota and two in Wisconsin.
“This was a difficult decision, but we have a responsibility to operate financially sound businesses that bring additional returns to our family farmowners’ investment in the Cooperative,” Dairy Farmers of America said in a statement.
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