| Company type | Agricultural marketing cooperative |
|---|---|
| Industry | Food |
| Founded | 1907 (1907) Orange County, New York, United States |
| Defunct | April 1, 2014 |
| Fate | merged with Dairy Farmers of America |
| Headquarters | East Syracuse, New York, United States |
Area served | Northeastern United States |
Key people | Gregory I. Wickham (CEO) |
| Products | Dairy |
| Members | 2,000+ |
Dairylea Cooperative Inc. was a dairy cooperative which was founded in 1907 as The Dairymen's League when group of dairy farmers in Orange County, New York united to increase their bargaining power.[1] In the 1920s, the Cooperative's membership had increased to more than 100,000 farms.[1] While based initially in Pearl River, New York, the organization was most recently headquartered in East Syracuse, New York.[2] They renamed themselves after their most famous product, Dairylea Milk.[3] It was formerly named Dairyman's League Co-Operative Association, and changed its name to its present one in 1969.[1]
While it changed and adapted over the years, Dairylea helped manage the sale and distribution of raw milk from more than 2,500 farms producing 5.5 billion pounds of milk annually.[2] In 2001, it was the largest marketer of raw milk in the northeastern United States.[1] The cooperative was a part of the National Milk Producers Federation.[4] Dairylea merged with Dairy Farmers of America on April 1, 2014.[5][6]
