June marks the start of National Dairy Month, Chaney’s says dairy farms face struggles

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The Chaney family has been milking cows for 81 years.

As June marks the beginning of National Dairy Month, the owner of Bowling Green’s Chaney’s Dairy Barn, Carl Chaney, said that the dairy industry is facing a lot of uncertainty in 2021.

He said consumers are buying less and less milk from cows, which hurts their profits. 

Chaney said the local dairy industry is important, because each of their roughly 60 cows bring about $15,000 into the community. Chaney keeps his dairy farm moving forward through a successful ice cream business and agritourism.

Chaney says that dairy farming is a dying business due to consumers not purchasing as much milk from cows as in the past. He says in the year 2000, there were 2,000 dairy farms in the state of Kentucky. Today there’s only 421.

He says that in 2019, about 19,000 tourists came out to the farm. On top of their agritourism, Chaney’s opened their ice cream business in 2003 to make up for lost income. 

Chaney said despite the struggling cash flow the business is facing, dairy farmers are doing whatever it takes to make sure their milk is on your shelf.

People interested in Chaney’s Dairy Barn’s events such as their upcoming “Ice Cream & a Moovie” can find out more information here.