Dairy Farmers of America closes purchase of Greeley’s Meadow Gold plant

GREELEY — The Meadow Gold dairy in Greeley is under new ownership after the Dairy Farmers of America completed its purchase of the plant from the bankrupt Dean Foods Co. (NYSE: DF) this month.

The Kansas City, Kansas-based farmers cooperative closed the purchase of four properties in east Greeley comprising the dairy for a combined $4.13 million on May 12, according to Weld County property records.

That amounts to about a 15% discount over county officials’ last estimated value of the properties.

DFA won a bankruptcy auction of Dean Foods’ assets in March, agreeing to acquire 44 plants across the country for $443 million. The purchase also includes a sister Meadow Gold plant in Englewood, but that property is still owned by Dean Foods as of Wednesday, according to Arapahoe County property records.

The U.S. Department of Justice previously co-filed an anti-trust lawsuit with Wisconsin and Massachusetts against DFA and Dean, alleging the sale would overly consolidate the market for milk in Northern Illinois, Wisconsin and New England. It does not intend to take any action between the two companies in Colorado.

It’s not clear if the plant is operating due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, or because of wastewater treatment violations that led federal health inspectors to shutter the plant in February. A spokeswoman for DFA did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

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