BERKSHIRE, VERMONT – 6/14/2010 -Dairy Farmers Working Together, a grassroots dairy group organized in 2006, traveled to Washington DC as part of a national effort to promote the Dairy Price Stabilization Act (HR 5288). The Dairy Price Stabilization Act was introduced by Congressmen Jim Costa (CA), Peter Welch (VT), Rick Larsen (WA), John Larson (CT) and Joe Courtney (CT). This is a national program aimed at giving individual dairy facilities a financial incentive to manage their milk production. By creating this incentive, the industry can better align national supply and demand, avoiding the extreme booms and busts we have seen in the milk price. Dairy Farmers Working Together has been working to change the surplus of milk and the cycles which have contributed to a significant financial difficulties nationwide.
Bill Rowell, VT, Vice President of Dairy Farmers Working Together (DFWT), spent three days with Julie Walker, TN, Doug Maddox and Steve Maddox of CA, Rob Vandenheuvel, Milk Producers Council, CA, meeting with members of the Dairy Caucus and Agriculture leaders including House Agriculture Committee Chairman R. Colin Peterson of Minnesota.
National Milk Producers Federation voted this week to support, among other provisions, supply management as a key component to an overhaul in the nations dairy policies. “We are excited and pleased that there is such strong consensus from our dairy leadership moving forward on this concept. We are determined to continue with this effort to ensure that our dairy interests, from farmer to consumer, across the nation are represented at the table as details of these plans are worked out.” Bill Rowell stated in a brief telephone interview.
Julie Walker of TN, a new team member for DFWT, observed “The Southeast United States is a growing population center, and dairymen in our area believe consumers and the environment are benefited when milk is sourced from local farms in any region. Growth Management, properly implemented, should reduce the enormous amount of fossil fuels currently used to transport milk into the southeast from other areas of the country. The growth management concept enables southeast dairy farms to not only be preserved today, but to grow in a financially sustainable manner that lenders appreciate. There is increasing support in the southeast for responsible growth management, and we are willing to work with dairy farmers from across the country to accomplish that goal.”
Walker’s cows are milked on a fourth-generation family farm, and her family’s farm grows grains that end up in feed supplies for dairy farmers. She owns AgriVoice Enterprises, a communications provider that serves progressive agribusinesses.
A national study commissioned by various groups is set to produce analysis on the variations of management programs out there in the coming weeks.
“We are anxious to see the results of those studies as are the other contributors and industry representatives. This has been a long process. Last week Dr. Mark Stephenson, Cornell University, announced that they have completed the model that will be used to analyze the various growth management programs that have gained interest. The next step will be to meet as a national stakeholder group and review those results determine which components prove to be the most beneficial to the industry ” stated Amanda St Pierre, Dairy Farmers Working Together. “It is imperative that with the national consensus we now have behind growth management that we work together to implement solid legislation that performs effectively with the right margins and triggers for our regions”
The dairy industry in Vermont is facing challenging financial times with the combination of low milk prices and a tightening credit supply. “It is the impact this has had on the family farms and the effect it will have to the Vermont landscape and economic viability of the rural communities which is our greatest concern” stated Amanda St Pierre.
More information on these proposals can be found at www.stabledairies.com or www.dfwt.org.
