Craig Marburger, vice president of Marburger Farm Dairy, said of dumping milk, “It's a hard thing to do. We're doing everything we can to use every ounce of milk.”

The fields at Marburger Farm Dairy in Evans City are running white.

Milk, gallons and gallons of it, has had to be dumped.

Commercial demand tanked because of the coronavirus pandemic and the dairy farm exhausted outlets to unload its surplus of 90,000 gallons per week.

“We are starting to dump milk — we started (Tuesday),” said Craig Marburger, vice president of Marburger Farm Dairy. “It's a hard thing to do. We're doing everything we can to use every ounce of milk.”

Many dairy farms in Pennsylvania and around the country have been forced to drench their land with milk as well.

COVID-19 has choked the market.

Schools are closed. So are restaurants and other institutional users of milk, both in liquid form and for other products, namely cheese.

Marburger said his farm has actually seen a spike in demand for liquid milk, but a serious decline in demand for milk used in cheese products.

“It's not enough to balance demand,” he said.

That has forced drastic steps, like dumping unused milk.Marburger said the family farm has never had to dump this quantity of milk in nearly a century of operation.Leroy and Mary Bergbigler of Bergbigler Dairy in Clearfield Township said they haven't yet had to dump product.But it's still coming.Cows still need to be milked, after all.“They didn't get laid off,” Leroy said.Already low milk prices in the Northeast fell by 10 percent in March as cheese factories and other customers of dairy farms scaled back.Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican, tweeted last week, “Some of you have seen dairies pouring out milk because the supply chain isn't geared for 100 percent consumer sales.”That has left dairy farmers in a severe vice.Marburger said his farm produces 200,000 gallons of milk per week.

He fears there will only be more dumping in the future.“It doesn't look good,” he said. “We're taking a financial hit.”But there may be help on the way.The American Dairy Association North East (ADA North East) is working with retailers in its six-state region to lift limitations on how much milk and dairy products consumers can purchase.Initially, consumers attempted to stock up on essential items, including milk, and many stores posted limits on the amount of dairy and other necessities that could be purchased. Recently, shoppers have stopped those bulk purchases.The ADA North East represents Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and northern Virginia.Mike Schiever of Schiever Dairy Farm hasn't had to dump milk.Yet.“I sure hope we don't have to,” he said. “That would be terrible.”But as demand falls, he is trying to slow production by 10 to 15 percent at the urging of Marburger Farm Dairy, which receives some of the Schiever farm's milk. It's not an easy thing to do.

Schiever is attempting to dry off some of his cows to slow milk production. This is done in part by changes in diet and milking schedule.“You get lower production,” Schiever said.Six generations of the family have farmed the land in Harmony. They've never seen anything like this.“I don't think anyone knows what the future holds,” Schiever said. “I just hope everyone does their part and we can get through this.”Using the surplusPastor John Pistorius of Christ's Family Church in Chicora is doing his best to find a home for the surplus milk and other food items.Through the Petroleum Valley Food Cupboard, Pistorius has already given away the 1,600 gallons of milk they received from Schneider's Dairy in Pittsburgh and Turner's Dairy in Penn Hills.“My phone has been going off non-stop with chats and texts and calls,” Pistorius said. “Some of the stories are heartbreaking. One woman called and said she has four children and she's out of work and she really needed some milk. She came from really far away.”Pistorius and the food cupboard has been setting up in the Christ's Family Church parking lot to hand out milk, produce — even butter.Cars have lined up to receive the aid.“I never, ever, ever thought we'd have the response we've had,” Pistorius said. “If you would have told me I'd be doing this basically as a full-time job, I would have laughed at you.”Victory Family Church in Cranberry Township received milk from Schneider's Dairy and Turner's Dairy and then distributed it to Pistorius in Chicora.

Marburger Farm Dairy in Evans City is being forced to dump milk because other industries shut down from the coronavirus pandemic have stopped buying milk.

From left, Frank Boring, Tyler Wilcox and Dakota Ferguson package orders Thursday bought for curbside pickup at Marburger Farm Dairy in Evans City. The dairy is taking orders by telephone from local consumers. Sales to restaurants and businesses that make cheese have slowed to a trickle during the government shutdown of non-essential businesses.