News
Something is in the works for dairy
Something is in the works in Washington to help dairy producers. In a meeting with a number of dairy-state Senators Wednesday, U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack said he is working with Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag to come up with some type of temporary increase in the price support for dairy products. Vilsack said he hopes to have a decision before Congress takes the August recess. He was not specific as to how much any increase would be.
Earlier this month the National Milk Producers Federation asked for a 6-cent per pound increase in the support price for cheese and a 4-cent per pound increase for nonfat dry milk powder. California dairy producer Joaquin Contente told a House Ag Subcommittee this week the increase needs to be a lot more than that if it is going to save producers.
Tags: Consumer Issues, USDA, Wisconsin
While a short-term increase in with the price-support is good…it is what it is…short-term. It is amazing how we are in the 21st century but yet still use an outdated pricing system that doesn’t properly reflect the current day markets. As I have been a witness to the farmer (my family), the commodity sales in domestic & int’l markets to the complexities that exist in the pricing program are a far cry from what an open/free market represents. We need a cohesive stance from the industry to get this out of control pendulum to stop swinging and actually represent what the market is giving us.