Study shows dairy processing potential in Dakotas

North Dakota dairy producers are taking aim at attracting a specialty dairy products plant in hopes of saving the declining industry. North Dakota has seen a reduction of 350 dairy farms in 2002 to 86 dairy farms today, losing five since the last legislative session. The number of cows is down to 16,000 compared to 40,000 in 2002. Aimed at helping struggling dairy enterprises, a joint study between the North Dakota Dairy Coalition and the South Dakota Department of Agriculture identified the industry’s best options for getting a new processing plant in the area. Jerry Messer, of the North Dakota and Midwest Dairy Coalition, said industry recognizes there are certain things it cannot do. For instance, there’s not enough production to compete in the commodity cheese market. “We just don't have the volume or the expertise to pull that off,” he said.In order to be relevant, North Dakota and South Dakota have to go into niche production, like specialty cheese, whey or a different kind of fluid milk, according to Messer. Any such facility would be of medium to smaller size, ranging in cost of $100 million to $140 million and taking in 500,000 to 1 million pounds of milk per day. As an example, he pointed to a successful Babybel miniature cheese plant in Iowa.