Wednesday, July 29, 2009

How do we fix the milk pricing system?

This is the question at the top of every dairy farmers mind. How do we fix the milk pricing system?
There was a meeting last week in Morrisville, NY about this very subject. There were some very smart people there with alot of suggestions about what we as farmers are doing wrong. We should limit the size of farms. We should lower the somatic cell count limit. We should put limits on the use of sexed semen. But this is the problem. They are all looking at this as if it is something that we did. They should get their heads out of the bulk tank and look at the big picture. We are a small part in a much larger picture.
The milk processing plants do not want us to get a fair price for our milk, because that would limit the profits they make. There are only a few processors left which limits the competition. A few years ago we were looking to leave our co-op, Land O' Lakes, and were looking to go with Readington Farms. They wouldn't take us because they were already getting our milk. They were also getting the milk from the other two co-ops in the area. So they could then set the price that they were willing to pay. If there was some competition then they might be willing to pay an added premium to get you to look at their company.
I spoke with someone from Susquehanna County Farm Bureau who is their state legislative representitive, and she said that there is a state that has a law that states that the stores are only allowed to charge a certain percentage over what the farmer receives. This is a simple solution that benefits the farmer and the consumer. If there is too much milk on the market and the price drops to the farmer it equally drops in the store. Lower price to the consumer, they can purchase more milk products, there goes the excess milk. The processor and the store still get a profit but it is reasonable, not excessive.
The American family is getting ripped-off. When we are getting less than a dollar a gallon and in South Carolina a gallon of milk costs $6.00 a gallon. It isn't right. Even locally a gallon of milk costs between $3.50 and $4.00 per gallon. It shouldn't be any more than $2.00. It is time to fight back. Yell. I have written to President Obama several times and no one from his office has ever acknowleged my letters. I know that the President wouldn't, but someone. Doesn't he care where your milk is coming from. The US government is importing dairy products from other countries, like China, that do not have the same regulation as the USA. Protect your food supply. Let President Obama know that this is an important issue. WRITE. EMAIL. What ever it takes to keep dairy in America.

1 comment:

  1. Glad to know someone cares. Keep up the good work.

    ReplyDelete