Scott McAdams of ATR Dairy is one of many Florida farmers who will be hanging up the milkers for good this year. McAdams said he and his partner decided to sell their 745 cattle in June to prevent going into more debt.

He said it started with Florida milk prices falling drastically in 2009.

Matt Lussier, owner of Lussier dairy, has been in the dairy farming business for 25 years and purchased some of the cattle from ATR Dairy. He said rapidly changing prices are a part of the industry.

“We’re going to fight our way through it,” Lussier said.

Florida is ranked 19th in milk production in the country and produced more than 277 million gallons of milk in 2015, according to Florida Dairy Farmers Industry Relations Manager Brian Chapman.