Ouch.

Several dozen dairy farmers received letters this week from Grassland Dairy Products Inc. in Greenwood, a major producer of dairy products and ingredients, informing them the company would no longer accept milk from them after May 1.

Behind this action is a new pricing structure implemented by Canada, which dramatically increased the cost of U.S. dairy imports and encouraged dairy companies there to purchase similar items from Canadian dairy producers.

Every day for years, Grassland has sent more than 1 million pounds of ultra-filtered milk, a product with elevated protein content that’s typically used in cheese production, to Canada, but it was informed by its Canadian customers last month they were immediately discontinuing buying the product from Grassland. According to the company, it left them little choice but to reduce its milk intake.