From the linked article:
The company said it also has been hurt by broader industry trends, including a 6% drop in overall US milk consumption since 2015. Borden noted that more than 2,700 family dairy farms went out of business last year, and 94,000 have stopped producing milk since 1992. With the wholesale cost of milk rising due to fewer suppliers and retail milk prices weaker due to lower consumption, the margins for milk processors like Borden have suffered, the company said in its filing.
With the loss of so many producers, prices of raw milk have increased. At the same time, American tastes have shifted to dairy alternatives such as soy milk and other such products and non dairy cheeses.
Dean Milk, the largest milk company in the country filed bankruptcy a couple of months ago. Other milk companies will likely be forced to reorganize as well.
This is not a temporary economic situation or caused by a depressed economy. Rather, this is caused by a fundamental and likely permanent shift in consumer preference. While milk will continue to be sold, it will not be the money maker it has been since the Civil War. The milk market will continue to lose ground to milk substitutes.
