On a lush hillside overlooking the Callicoon Creek Valley is The Diehl Family Dairy Farm, established in 1842.

Adam Diehl is generation number five to run the milking operation with his wife, Alice. Their daughter, Michaela, hopes to be generation six.

…The Diehl farm is one of six in Sullivan County, and 52 statewide, losing their wholesale contract. As of July, there’s no one to buy what they produce.

…Global forces are hitting local farms, everything from increased production in China, to Walmart bottling its own milk in Indiana. Tastes are changing too. The average American drinks 37% less milk today than in 1970.

…Farmers are encouraged that researchers are questioning the alleged link between whole milk and childhood obesity.

The Obama administration banned whole milk in schools. Farmers are working to overturn that. Some want a quota system to prevent mega-farms from producing so much milk it hurts family farms. Many want price supports so they at least break even.

“To create a floor, for the milk price,” said dairy farmer, Cindy Gieger. “So it can’t drop down below cost of production.”

New York Dairy Farmers Struggling To Stay In Business « CBS New York

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