BANGOR DAILY NEWS • August 30, 2024
Houlton Farms Dairy will stop producing milk in September, the owners said Friday. Citing increased costs of production and supplies, as well as declining milk sales, the dairy will cut out its white milk line near the end of September. The dairy has been an Aroostook County fixture for 86 years. Current owners, the Lincoln family, have had it for half that time. They’ve grown beyond milk to produce seasonally famous ice cream and butter that’s so much in demand it’s rationed. But production hikes and a drop in sales, due partly to the blossoming plant-based milk trend, have made it impossible for the family business to keep going, general manager Eric Lincoln said. Houlton Farms will stop milk production, but it will continue to make ice cream, butter and lemonade.