Dairy farmers go to Albany

By TOM KANE

ALBANY, NY — Following up on Senator John Bonacic’s challenge at an emergency meeting on September 23, a group of dairy farmers from Sullivan and Orange counties traveled to Albany on Monday, October 19 to highlight their plight.

Two buses left from the Cornell Cooperative Extension in Liberty at 6:30 a.m. to appear before a group of New York State senators at 10:00 a.m.

The trip was organized to highlight the extremely harsh conditions that are being faced by dairy farmers throughout the nation, which has already closed many farms and holds the potential of closing many more.

“We’ve got to get the message out because most people are not aware of how critical the dairy crisis is,” Bonacic said. Beside Senator Bonacic, the group met with Senators Catharine Young, John Seward and George Winner.

The buses were paid for by Thunder 101 radio station.

During the meeting, many dairy speakers related specific examples of how bad conditions in the industry are and suggested what measures could be taken to relieve the farmers. “It’s a full-blown disaster that we have now, not just a crisis, but a full-blown disaster,” said Orange County dairy farmer Tunis Sweetman, Jr. “Something extraordinary has to be done to get our message out.”

Government policies, not market forces, are responsible for poor dairy farm milk prices, according to an industry report that was released last week. “Conventional experts would have you believe the market is determining farm milk prices,” the study said. “Clearly, there is no supply/demand factor in farm milk pricing. The milk price is driven by the internal needs of a handful of elite players, like the dairy farm coops that are supposed to help dairy farmers and large food companies like Dean Food, the biggest processor of milk in the country.”

“This is, in essence, a federal problem, which needs a federal solution,” Bonacic said. “However, we can urge Governor Patterson to give an infusion of money to New York dairy farmers.”

This year, Bonacic and others offered a budget amendment to direct $30 million of the state budget as emergency farm aid to the dairy industry. The proposal had 30 Republican senators in favor, but all 32 Democrats in the senate voted it down. Bonacic said, “Wall Street walks away with federal bailouts and their executives still get bonuses. No farmer I know is going to get a bonus. Farmers are some of the hardest working people in America. To bail out Wall Street while leaving family farms to rot on the vine is just wrong.”