Why A Local Dairy Farm Is Being Forced To Dump Its Milk

KETTLE RIVER, Minn. — The life of a farmer can be rough, even when things are going well. But the situation can get really bad in a hurry. That’s what happened to a dairy farmer in Carlton County after the company he’d been selling his milk to cancel its agreement to buy their milk.

There are 28 cows being milked at the Siltanen farm. Cows have been milked on this farm since 1907 when Grandfather Siltanen was bringing his cow’s milk to the creamery by horse and wagon.

“We get up at 5 in the morning, milk the cows, and 5 O’clock in the evening we milk the cows, we’re happy then,” said Robert Siltanen, owner of the farm.

Until one month ago, the milk being produced at the farm was transported to the Burnett Dairy Cooperative in Grantsburg, Wisconsin. The milk would be picked up every three days. That was until the farm received a letter from the Cooperative stating it would no longer take the Siltanen milk.

“Now just about a month ago Burnett Dairy said we will no longer ship milk to them because of certain issues and they would not work out these issues with us,” Siltanen said.

The letter stated the bacteria level in their milk was too high, that there had been dirt in their milk, and the Cooperative had to dump three loads of milk from the area because it was bad.

“I don’t what else to do, ya know. We got no income. This is our livelihood, you gotta buy groceries, electric bill is coming due, taxes are due and you got no money coming in,” Siltanen said.

The brothers have tried to get another dairy in the area to pick up their milk, but so far, they’ve had no luck. They have contacted state officials, dairy associations, and their neighbors. But so far only their neighbors have called them back.

Siltanen said he has since rectified the issues the dairy company brought up about the quality of his milk.

The following statement was provided by Burnett Dairy in response to this story:

“As a farmer-owned cooperative, we are unwaveringly committed to providing consumers and other customers with safe, wholesome milk and milk products that meet the highest quality standards. While we cannot speak specifically to the situation involving this farm, it’s important to know that we follow strict regulatory standards to which each of our producer-members must comply and, when quality issues persist it may be necessary to end a supply relationship.”