CFU and CDC Support Legislation to Improve Dairy Producer Prices

CFU and CDC Support Legislation to Improve Dairy Producer Prices

TURLOCK, CA (June 23, 2011) – California Farmers Union (CFU) President Joaquin Contente and California Dairy Campaign (CDC) President Joe Augusto today sent a letter to National Family Farm Coalition (NFFC) President Ben Burkett in support of the legislative reforms called for in the NFFC backed legislation titled the “Federal Milk Marketing Improvement Act”. The legislation would pay dairy producers based upon their cost of production, manage milk inventories to meet market demand and address the impact of unregulated concentrated dairy imports. The letter stated:

“The reforms called for in the FMMO Improvement Act would ensure that dairy farmers nationwide have the ability to receive a fair price from the marketplace. In contrast, the proposal put forward by the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) titled “Foundation for the Future” as currently proposed fails to address the fundamental challenges facing dairy producers now and in the future.
“Under the reforms in the “Federal Milk Marketing Improvement Act” dairy producers would be able to receive a fair price because the producer price would be based upon the national average cost of production. Dairy producers throughout California are paying record high prices for feed and it is important that future dairy policy take into account production costs as called for in the “Federal Milk Marketing Improvement Act”.
“The “FMMO Improvement Act” would also address the greatest threats to the future of dairy farmer nationwide. It would finally address the impact of unregulated imports of concentrated dairy products that continue to displace a greater and greater share of domestic demand for milk and dairy products. It would further eliminate the use of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) as a price discovery method and instead formulate producer price based on the cost of production. In contrast, the NMPF plan fails to address unregulated concentrated dairy imports and its federal order reform proposal would lead to lower producer prices.”
Comprised of more than 1400 farmer, and rancher members, CFU advocates policies to lawmakers at the state and national levels on behalf of its membership throughout California. The California Dairy Campaign (CDC), a member organization, is a grassroots organization of dairy farmers who are working to encourage lawmakers and the dairy industry to be more responsive to the needs of the family dairy farm in California. CFU is a state chapter of NFU, which represents more than 250,000 members nationwide. NFU works to protect and enhance the economic well-being and quality of life for family farmers, ranchers and their communities.