MAINE PUBLIC • November 22, 2021
Idle farm equipment sits next to the empty barn at Cole Dairy Farm in the small town of Sidney outside of Augusta, the most recent casualty in an industry fraught with dairy consolidations, high production costs, downward product price pressure and labor shortages. The farm used to produce 2.4 million pounds, or about 278,400 gallons, of milk a year from its 100 cows. It’s a story playing out across the state, where dairy farms are a key link in the chain of producing enough food locally to feed Mainers. Some 109 Maine dairy farms shut down over the past nine years.