In November 2019 Dean Foods filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy and then in May 2020 Dairy Farmers of America bought a large amount of the company. Even though it all happened a year ago, it’s coming back to haunt farmers. According to dairyherd.com, quite a few dairies that used to ship their milk to Dean Foods received letters in the mail with some pretty bad news.
The papers explained that farmers are required to pay back part of their milk earnings from the “preference period” of the bankruptcy. A “preference period” is the 90 days right before a company files for bankruptcy. Apparently, the paperwork they were sent wasn’t authorized by the court in charge of Dean Foods’ case. Farmers are being told that they have until December 19th, 2020 to pay the money or they’ll be forced to pay back the full amount they were paid during the preference period.
We have reached out to Dean Foods and are awaiting a comment.
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