Mike Hosterman, AgChoice Farm Credit ag business consultant, said the industry could stand some fresh demand for milk. Reintroduction of whole milk into public schools could be helpful.

“Get kids drinking milk,” Hosterman said. “That comes from some of our (United States Department of Agriculture) programs where whole milk is taken out of school.”

Hosterman said he grew up on a dairy farm and cannot drink skim milk. He maintained that whole milk was more palatable and offered better nutrition children.

“Anything we can do to promote consumption is important out there,” Hosterman added. “Dairy is a good product, a wholesome product that we need and we think people want. Yet we don’t see that promoted. Anything we can do to promote that, from the government to processors will help the industry.”

Competition with large farms outside of the northeast was tough, Hosterman told Keller and others.

“We have a high cost of production compared to the rest of the country,” he said. “We’re not close to feed sources, the grain sources and we don’t have cheap land.”

It was noted that one of the only positive traits of the northeast dairy industry was that producers are closer to consumers.

Paul Smith, a dairy farmer from Northumberland County, said shrinking herds were also a problem. Keller observed Pennsylvania has been disproportionately losing more farms than any other state.

Keller said a bill would be introduced to allow children over age 2 in the SNAP program to have whole milk without a special order from a physician.

Hosterman asked Keller to ensure that the word “milk” is removed from containers of almond milk, maintaining that it is not really milk.

The gathering was in a grove on the farm of Dennis and Mary Jo Spangler near New Berlin.