Vermont Secretary of Agriculture Roger Allbee recently joined his counterparts in the Northeast to write USDA Secretary Thomas Vilsack encouraging him to consider the benefits of reinstating the federal support price for cheddar block and barrel cheese and non-fat dry milk back to the levels established by USDA last August. The action was coordinated by New York Commissioner of Agriculture Pat Hooker.
“We are writing to add our voice to those you have heard in saying that the current pricing system is outdated, broken and needs to be addressed,” said Secretary Allbee. “In fact the current system devalues fresh, locally produced milk, potentially impacting our food safety.”
The price for milk and cheese and non-fat dry milk has been extremely volatile over the last several months and recently has fallen dramatically. This situation is impacting the expected recovery in farm milk prices and will have a devastating impact on farm finances as farmers enter the 2010 planting and growing season.
“Increasing the support price for cheddar cheese and non-fat dry milk had a profound and positive impact on the market last year with little cost to government. That same positive impact can again assist our struggling dairy farmers. I appreciate Commissioner Hookers leadership on this request and wholly support it,” said Allbee.
Secretary Allbee commended USDA Secretary Vilsack on the attention USDA has taken to support the dairy industry and for visiting Vermont last month to hear straight from dairy farmers what they are experiencing.
“While it may be difficult to sort through all the options and come to a consensus within the dairy industry, doing nothing is not an option. If this particular dairy crisis does not move the industry to act, the consequences will be disastrous for our dairy farmers, in fact we are already seeing the ramifications,” commented Allbee. “This action would be one option to ensure a fresh local supply for our consumers and a fair price paid to our farmers who produce it.”
The economic impact of Vermont’s dairy industry is over $2 billion per year supporting thousands of jobs and rural communities across the state. Vermont is the largest supplier of milk to the Boston area. Currently, the cost of production of milk is far more than the price paid to farmers for their milk and over 50 operations ceased in 2009 drastically changing our communities and threatening our open, working landscape.
Source: VT Dept of Ag. 3.15.2010
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