Dean Foods, America's biggest cow milk producer has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Although the cheese industry and other dairy affiliated industries seem to have been treading carefully, the biggest cow milk producer will have its ramifications as it has indefinitely filed for bankruptcy. This could lead to a possible domino effect where other dairy affiliated industries may lose a great deal of business without appropriate cow milk supply. There could be an increase in cow milk prices in the market of milk, which may lead consumers to find the cheaper prices of alternative milk suppliers that are dairy-free to be more appealing.

We are already witnessing the aftermath of Dean Foods' filed bankruptcy. Local dairy farmers are concerned about cow milk sales. "The last four years have been pretty tight margins for the dairy industry and it's just another stretch on our resilience in able to handle circumstances not in our control," said Kenton Holle, a Mandan Dairy Farmer.

Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) controls somewhere around 30% of the milk in the U.S. It is reported that Dean Foods owes DFA close to $173 million. This means Dean Foods will have to sell their company to DFA in order to accommodate to their debt towards the company. Regardless, there is a $173 million debt, which is a loss of the cow milk industry.

Abbey Campbell, current general manager and member of Farm Women United stated the following: "It will be an interesting few months while this plays out. However, please continue to support your local farmer. These men and women are the backbone of America and deserve your respect and appreciation, especially in this time of uncertainty."

There are many reasons as to why cow milk production has been neglected and the most significant reason of all is that cow milk is unhealthy. PETA wrote an extensive article on why we should stop drinking cow's milk back in 2015. Here are the main facts, for further reasoning please go here.