A new social media challenge has exploded in agriculture circles over the last 24 hours.

The 10 Gallon Challenge is simple: head to your local grocery store, buy 10 gallons of milk, and then donate them to a local food pantry.

The challenge was conceived by farm broadcaster Ty Higgins, who created a video Wednesday that’s been viewed over 30,000 times.  Higgins says he empathizes with the struggles that dairy farmers are facing today.

“Dairy farmers right now are in the worst position they’ve been in in years,” Higgins says, “and so I thought, ‘how can I help them?'”

Dairy farmer Mark Petersen agrees that economic conditions in the industry are tough.

“There’s a lot of milk out there, and it drives the price down, so I don’t think there’s a dairy farmer anywhere around that’s making a lot of money right now.” Petersen says, “We have to get rid of some of this milk that’s on the market.

And while there’s an oversupply of milk, food pantries nationwide are in need of it.

“I think everybody would like to be able to serve milk in their pantries,” said Monica Clare, Executive Director for St. Joseph’s Food Program. “We serve about 600 or 700 clients on a weekly basis, and they all can use milk.”

So the challenge is a win-win, good for both farmers and needy families.  Though simple, it can make a big impact to families across Northeast Wisconsin.

If you decide to participate in the 10 Gallon Challenge, you can post pictures or video of you doing so on social media, with the hashtag #10GallonChallenge.

To view Ty Higgins’ original Facebook video, click here.