Dairy Farmers Need your help!!!

[Jared Smith]

Dairy Farmers need your help. We are getting paid less than a dollar per gallon while it is still over $3 in the store. Cheese is worse. Consumers and farmers are getting screwed while the processors and retailers are rakin in the profits. Something better change soon or the dairy industry will rely on imports (from China?) for all dairy foods.

We seem to gaining some momentum in DC. 300 farmers attened the ag comittee hearing yesterday, and our voice is starting to be heard. Your senators and reps need to hear a united voice from farmers and consumers.
Farmers need to demand that processors pay for trucking and to have the make allowance removed in the short term. Long term, there needs to be regs./reductions in imports, and an ivestagtion intot he milk pricing system.

Consumers...please demand that food safety be of the utmost importance. Many dairy products are being imported without your knowledge. KRAFT is the biggest culprit. Please let your reps know that this is unacceptable and that dairy products should only come from the US.

[Jared Smith]

Mike, as a dairy farmer I agree. The gov't shouldn't be doing this. National Milk Producers Federation (the supposed voice for dairy farmers in DC) advised them to do this. This will only benefit the processors and not the farmers. I was very disappointed when I read this.

[Mike West]

I don't appreciate my tax being raise to bail out dairy farmers. If they want to milk cows let them get their money from the market place, not welfare.

[Grant Hildabrand]

The Dairy Product Price Support Program has been put in place for August through October. It is a much needed shot in the arm, but it is only a temporary help. Hopefully it will allow enough time to allow the market to correct itself. I have attached a link to the news release below.

http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/!ut/p/_s.7_0_A/7_0_1OB/.cmd/ad/.ar/sa.retrievecontent/.c/6_2_1UH/.ce/7_2_5JM/.p/5_2_4TQ/.d/1/_th/J_2_9D/_s.7_0_A/7_0_1OB?PC_7_2_5JM_contentid=2009/07/0355.xml&PC_7_2_5JM_parentnav=LATEST_RELEASES&PC_7_2_5JM_navid=NEWS_RELEASE#7_2_5JM

[Jared Smith]

Problem is the gov't controls and sets the milk prices. We can't go to the local milk processor (if there even is one) and negotiate a milk price. We pretty much have to take what they set the price at. As far as I'm concerned, the gov't needs to get out of the pricing system.

[Nick]

If farmers need to be in DC to make it is a business, we r so screwed....kinda have to agree with Jeff on some too...

[Jared Smith]

Problem is, we are a milk deficit country....lets protect the dairy industry and ag in general in our country. Thats what all of these other countries are doing. They seem to realize how important ag is to the well being of their nations.

[K2]

How about keeping prices down and get some people to quit milking. IE stop producing soooo much milk. Your a victim of your own success. Say we slap some tariffs on Chinese milk product. The Chinese sell thrs to Canada and the Canadians sell thrs to the US. Tariffs do nothing but change the flow of goods to a more inefficient route. All the meat industries are hurting because we built capacity to meet export markets that have collapsed. In the case of meat I think it is also the 10% + enemployment that is keeping people eating spaghetti at home. I agree the processor margins are rediculous and smell of collusion by the processors. I think an just the threat of an investigation might help your cause. Same thing is going on in blender marins all going to the oil companies.

JXK