“If every American consumer could take a moment and think about what their take-home salary was in 1979, that’s what dairy producers will be paid for the rest of the year,” said National Farmers President, Paul Olson. “What cost $1 in 1979, costs nearly $3 today. Imagine trying to get along on your 1979 salary when costs have tripled,” Olson emphasized.
That’s why the organization favors milk producers working together toward an overhaul of America’s milk pricing system. One that would help balance milk supplies with consumer demand. And reduce price volatility in today’s milk markets.
“National Farmers began talking about a two-tier pricing system more than two years ago with milk cooperatives around the country,” said Olson. “While the dairy price downturn is painful for large and small producers alike— good can come from the situation if it helps producers focus on putting a new pricing system in place to ensure their future.”
Olson said that change could include elements of National Farmers two-tier price program, combined with a dairy price stabilization program offered by The Holstein Association U.S.A and Dairy Farmers Working Together, and a growth management plan the Milk Producers Council has proposed.
“Dairymen need to come to the table and craft a system that is not only good for them by rebalancing milk supplies, but for the industry as well.” He cited another example in California, where milk producers began requesting all dairymen there to reduce production by 5 percent.
“I believe National Milk Producers Federation’s move to create a Strategic Planning Task Force to tackle today’s dairy issues is the right approach,” Olson said. He noted that several issues need to be addressed, including Canadian heifer imports, sexed semen impacts on the industry, as well as erosion of over-order premiums and continued industry consolidation.
National Farmers is a group marketing and bargaining organization for the nation’s farmers, ranchers and dairymen.
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