Dairy Farmers Of America To ‘idle’ Its St. Albans Plant In Vermont, Affecting 80 Employees

Dairy Farmers of America will efficaciously adjacent its St. Albans beverage processing works and nan adjoining St. Albans Creamery & Supply, nan group announced Wednesday, putting astir 80 labor retired of work.

“Both nan works and shop person been foundational parts of nan St. Albans organization for generations,” DFA said successful a statement, adding that it recognizes “the heavy section connections to these operations.” A DFA spokesperson told VTDigger that idling nan works intends day-to-day accumulation will end, but nan group will clasp ownership of nan installation and support a “small team” connected site.

The closure is simply a rustle to Franklin County’s dairy economy, removing a longtime processing hub successful a region built heavy astir nan manufacture that has precocious faced akin dairy accumulation shutdowns. Dairy Farmers of America, a nationalist farmer-owned cooperative, called nan move portion of broader operational and web changes.

For national organizer Curtis Clough, nan determination to mostly extremity operations came “out of nan blue,” and he and his chap national members were upset erstwhile made aware. DFA told workers astir nan determination 15 minutes earlier making its nationalist announcement, according to Clough. The DFA spokesperson confirmed to VTDigger that workers were alerted Wednesday morning.

“They’re upset. They’re angry. They consciousness for illustration they person supported DFA done nan difficult times, for illustration Covid, and DFA is turning astir and abandoning them, truthful they’re taking it beautiful hard,” Clough told VTDigger, describing workers’ reactions to nan news.

The St. Albans works and shop person operated successful nan region for decades, pinch nan mill producing dairy for Vermont vendors, including Ben & Jerry’s and Cabot Creamery. The latest determination comes aft nan St. Albans Creamery & Supply announced it would adjacent its co-op market shop past summer, transitioning solely into a unit business. It besides follows nan plant’s unionized workers’ reaching a statement pinch Dairy Farmers of America successful October 2025, aft alleging “brutal” moving conditions, including mandatory overtime that extended their shifts into 12-hour workdays.

Dairy Farmers of America said successful its announcement Wednesday that nan shuttering is not a reflection of workers’ capacity and that it is committed to supporting those affected.

Clough, who helped lead nan organizing for a contract, said he does not deliberation nan shuttering is related to national activity but alternatively it “relates much to nan truth that nan dairy manufacture is successful freefall successful Vermont.”

Earlier this month, Franklin Foods, a dairy institution that has besides operated successful Franklin County for much than a century, announced it would beryllium closing its facility, laying disconnected astir 100 workers. That followed important layoffs by different institution successful nan area, Perrigo, which announced successful May it would beryllium laying disconnected 161 labor arsenic nan institution moves toward closing its installation successful Georgia. Before that, successful September 2025, dairy shaper HP Hood confirmed it would beryllium closing its works successful Barre, affecting astir 50 employees.

“We knew something’s been going connected successful nan beverage industry,” Clough said, referring to nan shape of closings. “We reached retired to immoderate of nan authorities officials months ago.”

Matthew Staebner, a dairy husbandman successful South Glastonbury, Connecticut, whose family utilized to workplace successful Franklin County, said nan St. Albans works closing, alongside nan different dairy installation closures successful nan area, is “going to negatively impact each nan dairy farmers successful New England.”

“I conscionable deliberation that it’s clip that a batch of nan dairy farmers look to fundamentally do what astir different farmers now are doing, which is trading their ain products,” Staebner told VTDigger, describing nan ripple effect these closures will person connected nan dairy industry.

Despite nan caller spate of closings successful nan Vermont dairy industry, Clough said he was “surprised astatine nan scope” of DFA’s decision. While Clough said DFA has been “consistently losing customers” owed to nan authorities of nan dairy industry, he based on that nan works still has capable business to warrant operations, citing its notable customers for illustration Ben & Jerry’s, and said that nan “milk manufacture is bound to bounce back.”

Anson Tebbetts, Vermont’s caput of agriculture, nutrient and markets, told VTDigger that he believes “something is going on” pinch nan processing industry, but said it’s “probably not conscionable unsocial to Vermont.” Nevertheless, he said nan agency has been gathering pinch a squad of others successful nan authorities progressive successful economical improvement and agriculture to “think astir immoderate of these plants and what nan early whitethorn beryllium for them, and if there’s immoderate measurement to repurpose them.”

Currently, nan beverage received astatine nan St. Albans installation will proceed to beryllium processed, which DFA said will guarantee a “market for location dairy farmers and continued work to customers without disruption.”

The plant’s past time of operations will beryllium Aug. 17, according to DFA.

“We dream that they reconsider their decision,” Clough said. Union members will beryllium gathering pinch DFA to talk astir worker accommodations successful July, according to Clough, and nan workers person already been successful interaction pinch U.S. Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt.

In nan meantime, DFA is providing nan affected labor pinch modulation support, according to its spokesperson, including severance pay.

“Keeping nan installation gives america elasticity arsenic we measure what makes nan astir consciousness for nan future,” nan spokesperson said.

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This communicative was primitively published by VTDigger and distributed done a business pinch The Associated Press.