MIDDLEBURY, Vt. (AP) – The fire that disabled a Hinesburg cheese plant last month could end up hurting dairy farmers who supplied milk to the facility.
Before the Sept. 29 fire, the Saputo Cheese USA plant was receiving about a million pounds of milk a day from 88 dairy farmers in western Vermont and New York through a contract with Agri-Mark Cabot Inc., said Diane Bothfeld of the Department of Agriculture Food and Markets.
“That worked out to about 10 to 12 percent of the milk production,” Bothfeld said.
Farmers are hoping the plant will be able to reopen within about two months.
Meanwhile, they’re want to find new markets without significantly increasing transportation costs.
“Everybody is working together to try to find a home for this milk,” said Middlebury dairy farmer Ted Foster, a member of the Agri-Mark cooperative who milks 380 Holsteins.
Besides mozzarella, the Saputo plant in Hinesburg makes mozzarella and other specialty and shredded cheeses. At the time of the fire, the plant employed about 100 people.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.