CLIFTON SPRINGS, N.Y. — It’s another sign that the dairy depression affecting the milk industry in New York and the nation has yet to subside.

Willow Bend Farms in Clifton Springs, Ontario County, is one of the largest dairy operations in the Finger Lakes. It will consider selling one of its three primary dairy operations, a Canandaigua property purchased by the Mueller family after the dairy boom of 2014.

Since then, the industry's soured, with farmers getting as much for their product as it takes to make it, and at times, less.

Willow Bend owner George Mueller says while the downturn is threatening to make the small family farmer nearly extinct, it's also taking a bite out of larger outfits like his.

"There's an efficiency and volume that is hitting home and hitting home hard in the dairy industry," said Mueller, who's been in farming more than 60 years. He says his family's farm holdings include close to 50 smaller, neighbor farms purchased over three generations.

New York's Farm Bureau is lobbying Congressional leaders for protections against bottomed out milk and livestock margins. It's promoting its agenda at Empire Farm Days in Seneca Falls this week. The event runs through Thursday. 

The Empire State has regained its place from Idaho as America's third-largest producer of dairy.