News

Dairylea proposes merger with DFA

The Board of Directors of Dairylea Cooperative has voted to merge with Dairy Farmers of America (DFA). Dairylea has been a member cooperative of DFA since 2002.

Dairylea had formed a committee in 2010 to gather ideas and member input on how to generate value and create market opportunities for its members. CEO Greg Wickham says the board determined merging with DFA “would best complement Dairylea’s capabilities and resources while securing flexibility and increasing value for our members.” He says the merger would give DFA the longstanding customer relationships in the Northeast marketplace.

The proposal was presented to Dairylea’s members at their annual meeting in Syracuse, New York on Wednesday. A series of informational meetings will be held in the coming months with a vote scheduled for a special meeting in February 2014.

The DFA Board of Directors has endorsed the merger. Six seats would be added to the DFA Board to represent the expanded membership in the Northeast.

Dairylea markets more than 6 billion pounds of milk from more than 2,000 dairy farms in the Northeast from Maine to Maryland to Ohio.

Dairy Farmers of America is the largest milk marketer in the country with nearly 13,000 members and 31 processing facilities across the contiguous United States.