Ryan Elbe’s family farm, Golden “E” Dairy in West Bend, has been dumping milk since March 31st. At the time this article was written and published, the dumping has yet to stop. Elbe said on the morning of April 6th that his farm has dumped “roughly over 125,000 gallons” of milk.
Elbe says that at this point his family has accepted what is happening in an attempt to keep their sanity, but it is still a devastating situation they find themselves in. Ryan also says that while he did expect some people to take an interest in milk dumping, he never expected for people to feel so passionately about it.
“There’s been a lot of attention, good and bad….there is a huge uproar from the public that we are dumping milk,” Elbe says. “People reaching out to me…nonprofit organizations reaching out pleading for milk from across the country.” Elbe has been contacted by nonprofits and food banks and nonprofits alike from states including Missouri, Tennessee, and Florida. Elbe was also contacted by a Russian gentleman wanting to lend a helping hand to the Wisconsin dairy industry.
Even though he would love to help and doesn’t want to dump the milk, the situation is out of his family’s hands. “I can’t just take a 7,000 gallon tanker load of milk to a food pantry and say ‘here ya go.'” as the milk is raw. Elbe realizes that people are not mad at him and his family and he wishes he could do more to help.
When asked what he thinks about grocery stores limiting dairy purchases in a time when he is having to dump milk, Elbe says “that’s extremely upsetting.” Even just a mile away from where his family is dumping hundreds of thousands of gallons of milk, Elbe says their local convenience store’s shelves do not have milk.
To hear Elbe’s entire conversation with Josh Scramlin, click the play button below:
Clayton says
We have a family of 6. The last few times we’ve grocery shopped we can’t buy the amount we want and need for our kid’s.
Doesn’t seem to make any sense at all.
Rod Stewart says
Most people don’t understand that it is the processing plants not working at full capacity due to this shutdown that is causing the problem
Lyniguez says
Exactly! It is so sad every day people give what they can and the community try’s to do their part to help those without and these plants cannot put their two cents in to help get this milk to those in need? Don’t blame the farmers why can’t the government find a way to take all this food going to waste n get it to the food banks. The need is there where is the will?
Tracy Kesler says
Yes, Please Do not dump milk!
Feed our people!
E J says
Well Clayton, send each family member in to buy their own gallon of milk. Have them pick up toilet paper if available. More than one way to skin a cat! Become a good cat skinner! Don’t take no as the final answer find a work around. I realize not all may be old enough to walk or go in by themselves, you can go in with them, give each kid the money to cover their purchase. Of course, you’ll have to let them get a treat!
Aaron says
If you’re limited to 2 gallons and you have six kids give each kid six bucks and have them carry 2 gallons of milk To the register. Plus you and your spouse
Congratulations you just purchased 16 gallons of milk for your family put it in the deep freezer and pull out 2 gallons at a time
John Craig says
I guess this was written before Trump appropriated 19 billion dollars, to buy milk and beef and veggies from dairy farmers, ranchers and farmers!
Janette Westendorp says
This begs the question…are the processors on strike or something?
Pam Jahnke says
I believe its this little thing called covid-19 you probably heard about. Employees are not showing up for work in many locations either because they are sick or they are afraid of getting sick.
J R says
Or they see they can make more by collecting unemployment.
Robert says
If they are choosing to stay home and collect UI then they are fraudulent and should be charged. I have had to file for the first time in my life and every week I have to report two attempts at a job search, it also asks if I was able to work but choose not to or if I turned down work. If,I,turned down work I don’t get my UI. Sounds like they may be lying on their weekly certification or that state doesn’t require what Idaho does for reporting.
Praying for our President, country, and the farmers.
Dina Dice says
You never said Why they told you to dump the milk. Why aren’t you able to do what you would normally do with the milk, also Who told you to dump your milk. This interview gave no answers. I’m interested, There is a shortage of milk and the prices went up $1.00 in Michigan, hang in there thank you.
Pam Jahnke says
There is simply no place to process this milk in Wisconsin – that’s why they’re being asked to dump the milk. It’s either lost at the farm where it can be used as a land fertilizer later, or it would be dumped down the processors drain. Either way wasted. Please go back a few pages on the previous stories regarding milk dumping in Wisconsin. I cannot speak to the market in Michigan. Processors here are telling us if they could find a plant that could process the excess within a reasonable distance, they’d definitely be going that route.
Deborah says
Could they not give it or sell it to hog farmers?
Pam Jahnke says
That is correct. Wisconsin only has a handful of remaining hog farms and as you may have noticed – one of the largest pork processors has closed because of covid-19 impacted employees. So pork movement has been compromised as well as dairy. No good solutions right now but everybody’s working on coming up with some.
Kim Lund says
we jsut built a few processing plants here in Michigan so we are not dumping.
Rich says
Because milk has a short shelf life even after pasteurization if they can’t sell it it has to go, cows MUST be milked at LEAST 2 times a day
Linda A says
Read the comment above. No one to bottle the milk! It’s raw milk… now ready to drink. It’s terrible, but not their fault.
KENNETH NICHOL says
pig feed??
joan says
Can’t you sell it to Sargento and Kraft for cheese?
Pam Jahnke says
Believe me – they’ve got plenty of their own and are turning it into cheese for your pizzas, tacos, and anywhere you can freeze it – today.
Rosalie benser says
If you are from irlandI what are you doing talking about the Midwest?
Pam Jahnke says
I don’t know where you got the impression I’m from Ireland. I’m a Wisconsin native, born, raised, educated, farming and broadcasting from.
Tony Gates says
Because of the brochure about Scotland and Northern Ireland that you have advertised at the top of the page.
Pam Jahnke says
That’s just one of my farm tour trips – which is still happening at this point. In January our group was in Costa Rica and Panama! Hard to believe today!
Denise says
It does not help farmers that Walmart has a dairy and sells their own milk. They control milk from cow to table.
Valerie sorader says
This is our country. Why are some inept politicians controlling our very foods. Our freedoms. This needs to come to a end, a stop. . .
Sheri says
Who is paying for it to be dumped????
Pam Jahnke says
The cooperatives are generally paying for the milk at a reduced rate – which is the cooperative model.
sugarmtnfarm says
Better than dumping would be:
->pigs->pork->bacon->$$$!
We get about 300,000 gallons a year for our pigs
from the dairy on the other side of the mountain.
Waste is a verb. Don’t do it.
Virus Zebulon says
I just saw that Smithfield is shutting down its pork processing plant. So milk as pig feed is a good idea, but the next peoblem in tbere is no where to process the pork. Ang no market for the pigs you feed the milk to. So tbat will just move the problem. We must get people back to work. Farmers and Ranchers may not be able to survive this and make a recovery. But, if you can control the Food, you can control the People. This Covid-19 is leaving oir economy in ruin. Something must be done, and done fast. I understand the concerns about keeping the Food supply clean. I also understand Farmers and Ranchers have a perishable commodity. It must be used or it will be lost!
Shelly Humphrey says
And here in Michigan controlling the food has sunk to a new low. Our useless Gov has decided selling seeds is not essential and therefor a lot of seed sections in the stores have been blocked off. Figure that one out.
Dennis Towne says
They were bought out by china same place the virus came from.
Melissa says
Dairy farms have NO choice. When the processors who BUY the milk tell you to dump it because they cannot buy it….you have to dump it.
We would love to give it to someone…we are not allowed to.
DFA is trying to get the processors to donate their processing and bottling and donate the milk to food pantries and low income families, rather than wasting it by dumping.
The stores that are limiting milk have no idea that the middle man is screwing us over and the stores while still making money!
If the stores raise their price, the dairy farmer does not make ANY more money…the processors make the money.
Please be respectful and kind to our farmers….we can only do so much. ❤
Doc says
Just plain horse hockey. They were processing it for the restaurant industry, the schools, etc. , all the industries that have shut down. They can process it and package it for sale in stores. Like everything else, forcing prices up up up.
Pam Jahnke says
As a matter of fact – they CANNOT take food that was destined for schools/food service and transition it to retail/grocery. First, its against the law. Second, school bound food/food service product does not have the proper bar coding on the packaging to be sold. These are “small” issues at first blush until you talk to the food processors and ask them how fast they can rectify it. I’m finding consumers in general are very unaware of how complicated the food distribution system really is.
Pat says
This is the same with all consumer products compared to commercial products. It’s amazing how uneducated the population is on how production process works in all lines of commodities.
More and more I believe people are just dumb.
Melody says
I grew up on raw milk nd it is the best milk ever had good old sweet cream on the top and it made the best butter ever. it was just in 1979 that i sold the last gallon of real milk and then they started fining people for selling it. so we just gave it away .
Suzy says
Look up vitamin D and 5G
Brian Smith says
Then give away why waste it dilver it like the milk man did
Lucinda Terzieff says
It’s still not clear from the article who & why they are being told to dump it. I haven’t had any trouble buying as much milk as I want in Washington state. I got some idea from another comment that there are not workers at the processing plants. This could be true. I see a pork plant recently had to shut down because 300 workers were sick. This has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with out social distancing issue. Are we or aren’t we protecting ourselves & each other from spreading the illness. Good luck everyone and stay save. Keep your businesses alive until this is over. If you can.
Marilyn Taylor says
Control the food & water control the people.
Vicki Detzler says
Plus the price they are charging is unreal
Genenjoy Melvin says
Smithfield is owned by CHINA. Surprised?
Jane says
TO ALL FARMERS:
USDA was just given an enormous amount of Corona 19 $$ . Contact them immediately!!! Ask how you can be a part of the food distribution security money. You ARE the primary step in food distribution
Jacki says
If dairy processor orders are down, they can process and bottle but have no place to sell it to. Then they have to dump it and eat the labor, overhead, and packaging costs.
Becky N says
I’m SO very sorry this is happening to our farmers!!!!! Praying for everyone involved!!!! Keep your spirits up because this WILL pass!!! God bless!!!! 😊❤🙏
John Craig says
Blog must be run by democrats, when I mentioned, Trump appropriating 19 billion dollars to buy milk, beef and veggies from US farmers. the comment didn’t get posted…..hhhhhhmmmmmmm….SMH!
Tracy Kesler says
I am praying!