Out of Storage, La. Farmers Dump Milk

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Out of Storage, La. Farmers Dump Milk


Sunday September 4, 2005 3:46 AM

AP Photo LADP131

LORANGER, La. (AP) - Farmers near the area devastated by Hurricane Katrina are dumping their milk because they've run out of room to store it, even as thousands of people go hungry in the New Orleans area.

Many storage tanks are just big enough to hold two milkings, and co-ops have not been able to pick up the excess milk, said Dee Simpson, who has been dumping milk at her family's 250-acre dairy farm since Thursday.

The loss of income combined with the huge expense of repairing damaged barns and using generators to run dairy equipment could be disastrous for the heart of the state's dairy industry.

Clifford and Patty Champlin are using 300 gallons of diesel fuel a day to power five generators at their 500-acre dairy farm. The Champlins also will have to replace the roof of their animal wash lot, which they had just spent $3,000 to replace.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5254355,00.html

[DELUSIONAL]

1. Scenes right out ot the depression era -- farmers dumping milk