BRASELTON, Ga. -- Mayfield Dairy’s Braselton Plant will close indefinitely by the end of the year,
On Aug. 31, Mayfield's Visitor Center will close, followed by the rest of the plant in November.
Mayfield’s parent company, Dean Foods, based in Texas, is closing the dairy as the company consolidates operations with another plant, out of state. More than 100 people, many who have worked there since the plant opened in 1997, will be looking for work as layoffs begin in September.
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Dean Foods sent a letter to Braselton Mayor Bill Orr, dated July 16, 2018, informing him of the plant closure, and identifying for him the 108 positions that will be eliminated.
"We expect to begin laying off all workers starting on Sept. 16, 2018, and for the layoffs to continue through on or around Nov. 30, 2018. Separations are expected to occur throughout that period. We expect the separations to be permanent."
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Mayor Orr has seen estimates that the dairy and Visitor's Center have been attracting about 150,000 people a year to Braselton.
Tours of Mayfield Dairy were popular with families and groups for decades. The location hasn't released an official reason for the closure, though parent company Dean Foods announced in late June that it was shuttering other plants in one part of the country, Kentucky, as Walmart build's its own processing facility. Similar moves in the country have left dairy farms with no one to sell their product to.
The Mayfield Dairy decision also comes amid a long national cycle of falling milk prices that have forced farms across the country to up production to cover operating costs.
As for Mayfield Dairy's decision in Braselton, reaction to the announcement has been sentimental.
Mayfield’s Braselton Visitor Center has stopped giving tours, but its creamery and gift shop will be open until August 31. So, visitors will be able to get ice cream until then.
