Two have succeeded. Others are threatening to dump their milk.
There have been two suicides.
I buy from a local raw milk dairy myself but a when you look at ag from the perspective of the people doing the work you make it personal. It's not a cardboard container or plastic jug that appears regularly in your grocer's dairy section. There are human beings behind that product. It gives you a perspective that even our industrial ag dairy farmers are human beings who for whatever reasons each has a story about why he or she goes industrial or goes "organic."
Long story short, imports have screwed our industrial dairy farmers. Now, I'd rather there not be factory farms at all. But maybe there is a silver lining in this afterall, maybe some may transition to "organic" (i.e. normal) to survive. A step towards healthier milk for all concerned, for cow and human, is the way I look at it.
In the meantime, some are forced to disperse herds to slaughter or folding shop forever. Just know that they are Americans who are hurting and you likely benefit from their labor purchasing products they produce.
There is a glut of milk. One problem for the factory dairy farmer is imports. You can help by not buying products labeled with milk protein concentrates (MPCs).
You can also help by buying organic. (link is to Organic Dairying: Gauging Pain in a Tough Market)
Iowa Ag Secretary candidate and dairy farmer Francis Thicke confirms that imports drive down prices for dairy farmers and he's calling for the government to enforce antitrust laws.
In a statement appearing in the Manchester Dairy Rally, May 30th, 2009 he writes, "These massive imports drive down prices paid to U.S. dairy farmers. Why are U.S. dairy cooperatives importing milk products to the detriment of U.S. dairy farmers?"
"The federal government needs to enforce antitrust laws" writes Thicke.
The government has bought 238 million pounds of nonfat dry milk powder to help dairy farmers. In the spirit of wanting to help dairy farmers I bought a container of powdered milk. It doesn't say whether it is imported or domestic!
The U.S. has been importing MPCs which have left domestic dairy farmers with a glut of extra nonfat dry milk.
There's a fairly large document with details on MPC imports to the U.S (pdf). It's a United States International Trade Commission report titled, Conditions of Competition for Milk Protein Products in the U.S. Market, May 2004.
Ordering pizza tonight? An LA Times reporter claims that Americans eating less pizza has hurt our dairy farmers. I question that. If the cheese used in fast food and restaurant pizzas contains MPCs and MPC imports have been hurting the dairy industry for nearly a decade then eating more pizza made with imported MPCs does not exactly consume the glut of milk.
A hint that MPC imports have been hurting the dairy industry comes from a report which appeared in the Southeast Farm Press on May 21st, 2009, "USDA rules on dairy import checkoff."
"Imports of dairy products have grown in the past two decades at a rate even faster than domestic production."
We have a glut of milk, dairy farmers are not getting paid, some are dispersing herds for slaughter and folding shop, there have been two suicides.
"Earlier this week, USDA published a proposed rule spelling out how it will calculate the checkoff on imports. The proposal will assess the equivalent of 7.5 cents per hundredweight on all dairy-based imports, including cheese and butter and casein and milk protein concentrates [MPCs]."
You can help. Don't consume products with MPCs and support legislation that helps our dairymen and women compete against imports (see link USDA rules on imports above). By all means, support organic and/or local raw milk dairies.
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