NY Area Farms Hurting from Marcellus Shale Boom
1 min readMilk truck drivers leaving for higher pay; manufacturers putting the burden on farms
by Justin Head
The Evening Tribune
Natural gas drilling in the Southern Tier has tapped into a new area, the pockets of cash-strapped farmers.
Rodney Mullen, manager of Triple R Farms in Rexville, a family-run business that survives on milk profits, has been operating since 1956. If something isn’t done to relieve rising costs, his farm, and many others in New York may be forced to close their doors in coming years.
In a letter dated Nov. 5, Land O’ Lakes informed Mullen his farmwould be paying 8 cents more per hundred weight of milk hauled away.
It reads: “As you know, the Marcellus Shale industry has quickly changed the landscape of our region in recent months. The effects of this growth have been felt in many ways.
