While their relationships with the farm are diverse, agricultural businesses say they’ve also felt the grip of the low milk prices and high energy costs that are currently squeezing local dairy farmers.

Dave Husted, of Husted Trucking in Mt. Upton, said that hardships dairy farmers are currently facing don’t really impact the company in terms of the accounts they still have – just the accounts they don’t have anymore.

“The total number of customers is dropping,” said Husted. “It only affects us to the point where we just lose business. It’s a trend that we would rather not see.”

Husted said more farm closures means that routes and customers are constantly changing, creating a logistical challenge to stay efficient and keep the tankers filled.

“We need to stay as efficient as we can be,” he said, explaining that decreased efficiency translates into higher hauling prices, which doesn’t help the family farms that are trying to keep up.

“The family farms, they are the ones who need to get more money for their milk,” Husted said. “They just can’t make it.”

Glenn Waffle, the head of the sales for Richer Feeds, said that his company knows all too well the current plight of local dairy farmers.

“We’re on the farm everyday,” Waffle said. “We get to see a lot of this firsthand.”