Producer

Dairy Farmers of America (DFA)

Dairy Farmers of America, Inc. (Kansas City, Missouri; farmer-owned cooperative; FY2023 revenue ~$21B; ~11,500 dairy farmer-members in 48 US states; CEO Darin Karst) is the largest US dairy cooperative and the single largest processor of US milk — collecting approximately 30% of all US raw milk production (approximately 67 billion pounds of milk per year). DFA handles milk through a network of 50+ processing plants across the US — including cheese plants (DFA is the largest US cheese producer), butter and powder facilities, fluid milk bottling plants, and specialty dairy ingredient plants. DFA's manufacturing includes American-type cheese (cheddar, colby, monterey jack), cream cheese, butter, dried milk powders, and whey proteins. DFA also operates as a milk marketing cooperative — acting as a balancer for regional milk supply, moving surplus milk between regions and processing it into storable commodities (butter, powder) when fluid milk demand is insufficient. DFA acquired the Dean Foods assets in 2020 following Dean Foods' bankruptcy (Dean Foods was the largest US fluid milk bottler; its bankruptcy reflected the long-term decline in US fluid milk consumption — down ~25% since peak). DFA's acquisition of Dean Foods gave it a dominant position in US fluid milk bottling at the same moment fluid milk demand was structurally declining — an ironic market position. DFA is the primary counterparty to US dairy farmers in most US regions.