She noted that the cost structure of products
in the market, such as deeper discounts on
supplies for producers who buy in larger
bulk orders, is driving smaller farmers out of
business and prompting mid-size farms to
expand to survive.
“I can buy a gallon of teat dip so much cheaper
than someone who uses only a gallon, because
I buy 275 gallons at a time and they’re going to
buy 15,” she said. “I think it’s sad.”
Gar-Lin fills three 6,000-gallon tanks to be
shipped per day to manufacturing and
distribution facilities.
The dairy’s semi-robotic carousel in the parlor
can milk up to 50 cows at a time and 270 cows in
an hour. The machine monitors and records the
amount of milk each animal produces, as each
cow walks on and off the carousel on their own.
They send their milk to Land O’Lakes, which
sells dairy products internationally through
partnerships with major food manufacturers
across the globe.
“I think trade has affected us, but the issues that
they’re trying to fix should have been fixed a
long time ago,” Allen-Tully said.
She hopes Congress will pass the trade
agreement with Mexico and Canada, noting that
Mexico received more dairy products from the
United States than any other trading partner
before the trade war.
“We’ve got a lot more product in the country
than what we would have had before” and that
additional product within the U.S. leads to the
surplus that helped to drive the cost of milk
down, she said.