Senator Bernie Sanders has called upon Dean Foods - the top producer of fluid milk in the U.S. and a company that controls fully 70 percent of the New England milk market - to rise the low prices it currently pays to dairy farmers.
Sanders made his statements in a recent letter to the head of the Dallas-based company, CEO Gregg L. Engles, In his letter, Sanders noted that Dean's profits more than doubled during the first quarter of 2009, while prices for farmers have been at their lowest level in almost four decades. “How can it be that while milk prices for farmers are so low, the profits of Dean Foods are skyrocketing?” wrote Sanders.
Sanders finished his letter by renewing an invitation for Engles to visit Vermont, where dairy farms have been shutting down across the state with increasing frequency. “Dozens of dairy farms have already gone out of business this year, and more will shut down in the near future if milk prices are not substantially raised,” Sanders said.
Sanders also challenged a claim made by Engles in a July 24 letter that milk prices are set entirely by the federal government. Sanders argued that federal milk marketing orders only set the minimum price for farmers, not the maximum.
“The price that dairy farmers in Vermont are receiving today is absolutely being set by Dean Foods and other processors,” he wrote.
Sanders has called for an official Justice Department antitrust investigation into dairy processors.
Sanders demands higher prices for farmers
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