SHEBOYGAN, WIS. — Dean Foods Co. said it will phase out production at its Verifine Dairy fluid milk processing plant in Sheboygan by the end of April. The closing will affect about 70 positions the company said.

“We will continue to maintain significant operations in DePere, Wis., and our products will continue to be available in the region,” said Dustin Cox, a spokesperson for Dean Foods. “We will certainly make everyone aware of open positions throughout Dean Foods and encourage them to consider applying.

“We regret the impact that this result will have on our employees and our community. The decision to eliminate jobs in any part of our business is never an easy one. This move does not reflect the quality of work performed by our employees, but rather reflects the need to remove redundancy in our operations.”

High raw milk prices have hindered Dean Foods’ financial results in recent quarters, and the Dallas-based company posted a loss of $15,972,000 in the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2014.