Amarillo-Area Cheese Plant Boosts Milk Demand
Published Mar 27, 2006
More than a few people in The High Ground are excited about the new cheese and whey protein plant Hilmar Cheese Co. is opening in Dalhart.
The plant initially will employ about 125 people and will process about 5 million pounds of milk a day.
John Jeter, chief executive and president of Hilmar Cheese Co., says the California-based company’s new Texas plant will give it access to the eastern market.
“We think it’s a great place to grow milk,” he says of Dalhart, where the company’s plant will start production in fall 2007. “It’s a great place for dairies, and a great business-friendly community and region.”
The Texas plant will be the 20-year-old company’s second location and first venture outside of California to make cheese.
“The markets we’re going into tend to be further and further east,” Jeter says. “A lot of our [future] growth will come in the Texas facility.”
And that means significantly by more growth for the region’s dairy farms.
About 70 more dairies will be needed just to support Hilmar, says Richard “Buzz” David, president and chief executive of the Amarillo Economic Development Corp.
That means about 150,000 more cows, he adds.
“The dairy industry has been growing here for several years, but with the coming of Hilmar Cheese and the need for a significant increase in the number of cows to support them and other companies, it will definitely change the economic landscape in the Panhandle,” he says.
The Hilmar plant will bring $300 million in additional investments just for the dairy producers, he notes.
“The impact from construction is $1 billion. We haven’t seen anything like that here in [the area’s] history,” David says.
Story by Cristal Cody
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