will bankdruptcy teach farmers they've been played for fools?

[Guest guest]

Poet Leonard Cohen sang "everybody knows that the game is fixed" ... dairy farmers have yet to figure that out. They're still trying to play what they're told are 'the Rules'the dairy industry is failing because it got suckered into delivering the image of food instead of true foodbest thing producers of REAL MILK can do is stay-the-hell away from anything to do with govt. ... concentrate on educating consumers, keep the good stuff flowing and demand high prices accordingly```````````````````US Ag Secretary missed a golden opportunity Officials from Progressive Agriculture Organization (Pro Ag), Meshoppen, have deep concerns about the announcement made by Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, Mar. 26 Secretary Vilsack announced he was releasing 200 million lbs. of nonfat dry milk to benefit various feeding programs to help needy people across the US.Arden Tewksbury, Manager of Pro Ag, said, "The releasing of the powdered milk was a very noble move by the Secretary, but this could have been done months ago."Tewksbury said, "When we heard the Secretary was making an important announcement, we were anticipating (and hoping) it would be that he was mandating that section 608©18 of the 1937 Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act would be used in the pricing formula that determines the value of raw milk at the farm level. Section 608©18 requires the Secretary use the dairy farmers' cost of production to determine a fair price for U.S. dairy farmers. Unfortunately, this was not the case."The Secretary's announcement included several temporary changes in the Farm Service Agency (FSA) approach to farm loans, such as partial debt restructuring, possible (but very limited) and debt forgiveness, regarding loans made to dairy farmers through FSA offices.Tewksbury said, "The Secretary really missed his chance to help dairy farmers. These farmers don't need more loans. What they need is more money for their milk in order to pay existing loans and other climbing expenses."Pro Ag has been predicting that the average dairy farmer in Order No. 1 will be losing between $140,000 and $150,000 during 2009 unless corrective action is taken.Since January 2008, prices paid to local dairy farmers have plummeted nearly $10 per cwt. (80 cents per gallon). At the same time, dairy farmers are still trying to recover from the highest cost of production that they have ever experienced.Some organizations and government officials blame the big drop in dairy farmers' pay prices on "over-production" by the dairymen. However, Pro Ag blames most of the decline on the speculative Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME).This is the Exchange where a few limited number of bidders bid on selected dairy products, which in turn starts all milk prices across the United States.According to Pro Ag, it has already been proven that the CME, with its limited participation, can be manipulated by these same bidders.Tewksbury said, "In 2007, Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Senator P. Casey, Jr. (D-PA) introduced 'The Federal Milk Marketing Improvement Act of 2007 (S-1722)."This Bill could have averted many of the problems currently being experienced by all dairy farmers. Unfortunately, the Bill was never reported out of the Senate Agriculture Committee for consideration by the full US Senate." A busload of Pro Ag members will be in Washington, DC, on April 1 in an effort to obtain support for the re-introduction of S-1722.Another serious problem facing dairy farmers is the accelerated amount of dairy products coming into the United Sates. Meshoppen dairy farmers Gerald and Tina Carlin routinely compile documentation illustrating the trends of milk production and usage in the US.Their work documents the amount of milk produced in the US, the amount of milk marketed in the US, and the commercial disappearance. These figures clearly demonstrate there is something wrong with the current methodology being used to report dairy product imports. This is very serious as it directly affects consumption of American milk and dairy products. The Carlins also track the amount of dairy products imported into the United States. Carlin said, "It is relatively easy to keep track of the majority of dairy products entering into the United States."However, milk protein concentrate (MPC) which has never had FDA approval to be used in our foods is another matter. It is much more difficult to determine the amount of raw milk MPC displaces," said Carlin.He added that among the suggestions being offered in the new version of S-1722 is the requirement that the Secretary of Agriculture routinely publicly report the amount of US raw milk that all dairy imports (including milk protein concentrate) are displacing.Pro Ag officials agree that this reporting requirement is a significant improvement to S-1722 that will help deal with this problem of displacement of American milk by imports.Submitted by Pro-Ag ©Susquehanna Independent Weekend 2009