



Under a program that allows the government to buy excess food or agricultural products and redirect them to food banks or school nutrition programs , this is the first time the USDA has purchased a surplus of liquid milk.





But it’s not the first time the government has stepped in to help the dying dairy industry. Earlier this year, the United States Senate signed a budget agreement to hand over $1 billion of taxpayer money to the dairy industry . Supporters of the agreement claimed the money would be used for programs to help the industry recover from falling dairy prices.













Further proof that the dairy industry is hurting, Dean Foods—America’s largest dairy company—announced a plan to shift focus to its plant-based brands . Additionally, the company best known for manufacturing, marketing, and distributing dairy-based products such as DairyPure and TruMoo recently made headlines after it closed an Illinois facility , citing a decline in consumption. Dean Foods predicts more closures as consumers ditch dairy products in favor of plant-based options.





A recent survey from agribusiness giant Cargill reveals that half of U.S. dairy consumers also use vegan dairy alternatives . With so many dairy consumers using plant-based alternatives, the dairy industry is losing a significant portion of its business.

















The decline in dairy consumption is great news for cows, who are treated as mere milk-producing machines , forcibly impregnated, and kept in terrible conditions . Shortly after calves are born, they are torn away from their mothers. Male calves are killed for veal. Females are forced into the dairy herd, trapped in a cycle of abuse for years until they are considered “spent” and sent to slaughter.





Sounds terrible, right? Just watch this undercover video from a Mercy For Animals investigation.











