“We must understand what the consumer wants,” restated the lifelong Missouri dairyman. “Then, we must figure out how we can work together more closely and get it done.”
Need for consolidation
“I looked at a map the other day of co-op plants in the United States,” said Mooney. “We have plants, on top of plants, on top of plants. At current milk prices none of us can afford what we need to do in any of the plants,” he told fellow co-op members in the audience.
A new way forward
“Let’s figure out a way to consolidate some of these plants and change them to what consumers want,” said the dairyman who also serves as chairman of the Dairy Farmers of America cooperative.
“We need to commit to leading. We need to commit to being leaders of a knowledge-based industry that is looking down the road and around the corner, not just doing what we’ve always done,” said the co-op leader.
