New York dairies got a helping hand from Pennsylvania on Friday as commonwealth and New York officials announced a partnership that ensures millions of pounds of raw milk don’t go to waste after a New York cheese plant temporarily shut down.

Speaking at the Dairy Farmers of America Middlebury Center in Tioga County, officials from both states confirmed a permitting process was reached in less than 24 hours that will provide single-trip permits to haul milk on specific routes to processing plants in Pennsylvania.

At stake is 3.6 million pounds of raw milk that would have been dumped without the deal.

According to the Shapiro administration, PennDOT coordinated with the New York State Department of Transportation, the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, and the dairy industry to create a plan to save the raw milk before it spoiled.

The milk will be processed at the Tioga County processing facility as well as the Dairy Farmers of America in Reading, Berks County; Dairy Farmers of America in New Wilmington, Lawrence County; Leprino Foods in Sayre, Bradford County, and Upstate Niagara Cooperative in Williamsport, Lycoming County.

Rather than dispose of raw milk — a scenario every dairy farmer wants to prevent — Pennsylvania spearheaded the multi-state response to redirect the raw milk to other processors during the Great Lakes Cheese plant’s unanticipated pause, a news release states.

The cheese plant, in Franklinville, New York, was forced to shut down when the New York Department of Environmental Conservation confirmed a discharge from the plant, which included milk and other dairy byproducts, was responsible for a massive fish kill that devastated a nearby creek.

“One plant closing, even a temporary one, can cost millions in lost products and have ripple effects down to the empty grocery shelves at the end of the supply chain,” said Russell Redding, secretary of the PA Department of Agriculture.

Pennsylvania allowing the milk to be hauled through and processed in the state offered “practical solutions to short-term, immediate setbacks and long-standing challenges,” Redding said.

The shutdown of the Great Lakes Cheese plant has significant consequences for dairy farmers that rely on the plant to get their product to market, said Tim Wood, PFB state board director and member of Pennsylvania Farm Bureau’s Dairy and Farm Policy Committee.

Richard A. Ball, New York State agriculture commissioner, appreciated the swift action to temporarily modify hauling regulations to allow for the transportation of New York milk.

“This not only mitigates the impact to our dairy farmers in New York, but also ensures minimal disruption in the supply chain for consumers,” Ball said.

“Agriculture is one of the largest, most important industries in both Pennsylvania and New York, and this was a true team effort to help our dairy industry quickly get its products to market,” said Marie Therese Dominguez, New York State Department of Transportation commissioner.