Milk bill supported

By FRITZ MAYER

MONTICELLO, NY — A bill introduced by two Pennsylvania senators got a measure of support from Sullivan County lawmakers, who saw it as helping dairy farmers in both states and the region.

The bill is the Federal Milk Marketing Improvement Act of 2009 and was introduced by Senators Arlen Specter and Bob Casey. At a meeting of the Sullivan County Legislature on May 6, lawmaker David Sager said the county should support the measure because it would tie the price of milk to the cost of production, which would allow farmers to stay in business. Sager noted that most products are priced with the cost of production as part of the formula.

Joe Walsh, executive director of the Cornell Cooperative Extension, also told lawmakers the bill should be supported. He said that the price that dairy farmers are now getting for milk is at 1992 levels, while the cost of operating a farm, including the price of grain, electricity and motor fuel, is higher than ever. If something doesn’t change soon regarding the pricing of milk, Walsh predicted the county would lose three to four more dairy farms within the next few months.

Walsh said that when he first joined the extension in 1999, there were 50 dairy farms in the county. Now there are 30. Some of the ones that disappeared, he said, were because the farmers retired, but many were forced out of business because of economic conditions, and the price of milk was a contributing factor.

The picture in Pennsylvania is similar. Casey issued a press release on April 24, which said, “Dairy farmers continue to struggle to make a living at a time when the money they bring home for their milk only covers a fraction of the cost to produce it.… Pennsylvania risks losing our dairy farms, which would seriously jeopardize the economy of the entire state.”

Casey and Specter’s bill would require that almost all milk sold in the United States be priced using a national average cost of production. The U.S. Secretary of Agriculture would review the price and costs of production every three months, thus reducing the extreme price swing that farmers have experienced in recent years.

Sullivan County lawmakers unanimously passed a resolution supporting the passage of the bill. In the Senate, the bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on Agriculture, of which Casey is a member.