CLERMONT, Ga. (RFD News) — The dairy industry continues looking for ways to strengthen consumer demand while also adapting to changes in labor and technology across the sector.
Jennifer Glover with Mountain Fresh Creamery says her family’s operation is opening its doors directly to consumers in hopes that greater transparency helps reconnect people with dairy farming.
“We built a room where people can see from the room into the parlor and watch the cows being milked. They can see into the tank room, so we can talk to them about milk quality —how milk is one of the only foods that never touches human hands — so, it’s the safest food you can consume. When people come to our farm, they get a sample of whole milk, a sample of chocolate milk, and a scoop of ice cream. To my husband and myself, it’s more of we feel like it’s an education piece that we owe consumers.”
Glover says dairy producers have steadily lost milk drinkers over the years as consumers shifted toward bottled water, soft drinks, and other beverage options.
“We’re losing milk drinkers every day. We have since the 1970s when we got things like bottled water, Coca-Cola, flavored water, and different things like that. We’re losing milk drinkers, so if we can get people out on our farm to really taste what real milk tastes like, let them see how we treat our cows, and talk to them about the benefits of milk. I feel like we’re going to gain some milk drinkers back in our world.”
USDA data show that U.S. milk production last year increased roughly 2.5 percent from 2024, while producer returns declined by around 6 percent.
Meanwhile, robotic milking systems continue changing how many dairy operations manage labor and barn efficiency.
USDA research found that dairies using robotic milkers with herds of 50 to 149 head often reported lower unpaid labor costs, averaging about $5 per hundredweight, compared to more than $9 per hundredweight for farms without the technology.
The research also found that larger dairies still rely more heavily on paid labor for milking as herd sizes continue increasing.
