Finger Lakes, N.Y. — U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer announced Wednesday new legislation to help New York dairy farmers expand their operations to meet the milk demand from the Greek yogurt boom. New yogurt plants including the Pepsi Project Wave plant, Alpina, Fage, and Chobani, the New York Farm Bureau predicts that New York’s dairy farmers must be able to expand their output by 15 percent in order to take advantage of the Greek yogurt surge.
While the demand for local milk has increased dramatically over the last several years, many dairy farmers know it is not always possible or profitable for them to expand and produce more milk to cover the gap, Schumer said.
The proposal, DAIRY (Dairy Augmentation for Increased Retail in Yogurt products) Act, would allow farmers who purchase cows that are already in production to write off the cows as a capital expense, lowering their overall tax burden.
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