One of Cache County’s largest employers is set to receive major state incentives to expand its Logan dairy facility, pumping up its production, creating jobs and infusing millions into its operations.
But while Schreiber Foods says increased demand for milk in its expansion will benefit the dairy industry across the region, experts say the boost is unlikely to extend to Cache Valley farmers.
The international company, which produces cheese, cream cheese and yogurt at its Logan and Smithfield locations, will expand under a deal with the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity. If Schreiber creates 145 new jobs at its Logan plant and puts $165 million into its production over the next eight years, it will get a tax break of up to $4.3 million.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Schreiber Foods, a dairy processing plant and major employer in Cache Valley, is seen in Logan on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026.
A Schreiber spokesperson declined to disclose the company’s suppliers, but Utah State University professor Ryan Larsen, who specializes in agricultural economics, said the company normally does not buy milk directly from individual dairies. Instead, he said, Schreiber Foods works with a company that purchases milk from farmers, then sells it to Schreiber and other producers.
To benefit from Schreiber’s increased milk demand, Cache Valley dairies would need to not only get approval from that wholesale distributor, but they would also need to assume the risk that the increased demand could end, leaving them with an expensive surplus of cattle.
“Are there dairies in the valley that are going to want to increase capacity based on Schrieber’s?” Larsen asked. “That’s a very risky question. I don’t know if a lot of dairy farms are willing to take on that risk of expanding.”
More likely, he said, the added demand will be met by massive dairies that have become more popular in Idaho or other areas of Utah.
“They can produce so much more efficiently,” Larsen said. “The natural result of that is small farms can’t compete.”
That competition, according to Larsen, has contributed to the end of many of the family dairies that were once common around Cache County.
“We’ve just lost so many dairies in Cache Valley,” he said. “There’s too much risk to take on that additional debt and risk of expanding.”
Utah Farm Bureau Federation spokesperson Matt Hargreaves agreed with Larsen. The added Schreiber demand, he said, will likely be met with milk sourced throughout the Intermountain West.
ValJay Rigby, the federation’s president, added that volatile market conditions make it hard for smaller dairies to stay afloat.
“Our biggest challenge is keeping those dairymen around,” he said. “They’re producing milk and selling it below their cost of production, and they just can’t survive much longer.”
Kent Buttars, who operates the Lewiston dairy his grandfather started in 1908, is familiar with the struggles that come from a shaky global dairy market. He and his son often have to operate on credit to keep things rolling.
Buttars said he finds himself “waiting it out until the price for milk goes up a little bit, and you can kind of make up for lost profit.”
Although Schreiber Foods’ expansion might not have a significant effect on Cache Valley’s struggling dairy industry, Kirk Jensen, Logan’s economic development director, said the $165 million investment will benefit the city’s tax base, and the added jobs mean new opportunities for people who want to live in Cache Valley.
Jensen said he appreciates the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity.
“That’s just wonderful anytime you see companies growing and providing jobs for not only our community members that live here,” he said, “but those that are looking to come back to Cache Valley.”