Current national cost of production for milk is $20 cwt. Costs for fuel, feed, fertilizer and seeds have all skyrocketed in the past year. Meanwhile, consumers have yet to benefit from lower prices at the supermarket for milk or cheese. Now more than ever is the time for USDA to enforce 608c (18). Already, farm suicides have occurred in California, and as unpaid bills pile up and milk prices decline, we can only anticipate more desperation in many parts of rural America. As USDA is also supposed to factor in the public interest when determining milk prices, NFFC believes dairy’s vital role in providing economic opportunity in rural America, along with providing Americans with a stable, quality and safe food supply, provides a compelling public interest role deserving of support equal to Wall Street banks. The dairy industry is an economic multiplier reaching beyond the farms, affecting feed and seed suppliers, tractor dealers and a host of other dependent industries in the farming sector. The public’s interest would be served by having a dispersed, resilient food supply where dairy farmers throughout the country could make a profit.
