Like many other sectors in India, the dairy sector faced the heat of Covid-19. But farmer-owned cooperatives shielded dairy farmers from the brunt of a drop in demand from bulk consumers by absorbing the shock at a time when small and big private players, including milk processors, left the field waiting for the market to recover. Though milk as farm commodity can’t be compared with food grains, the management of this perishable liquid through cooperatives may offer farmers and policy makers some insights.