Senator Franken: Minnesota dairy industry shouldn't be subject to excessive fines, regulations

Last week, U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) cosponsored a bipartisan bill that would protect dairy producers and processors from excessive fines. The legislation would require the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to finalize a rule to exempt milk storage facilities from repetitive, costly Spill, Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) regulations and prevent it from fining or enforcing compliance penalties against producers and processors until they do.

“Minnesota’s dairy farmers and processors play a very important role in our state’s economy and shouldn’t be subject to excessive fines or to unnecessary regulations that hurt their competitiveness,” said Sen. Franken. “This bill restores some common sense to this regulatory process by requiring the EPA to quickly end this excessive over-regulation of our dairy industry and protects our farmers from fines until it has done so.”

Currently the EPA administers the SPCC program under the Clean Water Act to prevent discharges of oil into waterways. Because the EPA considers milk to be a non-petroleum oil due to its butterfat content, facilities handling milk, including dairy farms, may be subject to regulation under SPCC because of their milk storage capacity. In January 2009, the EPA suggested correcting this ill-advised consequence for the dairy industry but no final ruling has been made. The SPCC regulations are considered repetitive and unnecessary because milk handling operations are already subject to FDA regulation under the Grade “A” Pasteurized Milk Ordinance (PMO), including licensing and regular facility inspections.

MFU to attend DOJ/USDA workshop on the dairy industry

On Friday, June 24, Minnesota Farmers Union (MFU) Vice President Gary Wertish and MFU Government Relations Director Thom Petersen will be attending the Department of Justice and the United States Department of Agriculture’s workshop about the dairy industry. The workshop will be held at the University of Wisconsin – Madison at the Union Theater in Memorial Union, 800 Langdon Street.

“Fair competition and price discovery are hampered by the concentration of the dairy industry in the hands of a few,” said Doug Peterson, Minnesota Farmers Union President. “This concentration serves the bottom line of the companies, not the family farmers or the consumers. I hope these hearings will start to pinpoint solutions for fairer competition and price discovery so our family farmers can compete and stay in business.”

The goals of the workshop are to promote dialogue among interested parties and foster learning with respect to the appropriate legal and economic analyses of these issues, as well as to listen to and learn from parties with experience in the agriculture sector. There will be a roundtable discussion; farmer presentations of issues; and panels on: trends in the dairy industry, market consolidation, and market transparency. The Honorable Eric Holder, Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice and The Honorable Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture will be in attendance.

To speak with MFU representatives before, during, or after the workshop, contact MFU Vice President Gary Wertish at 651.262.7128 or MFU Government Relations Director Thom Petersen at 612.860.9462. You can also find more information about the workshop at http://www.justice.gov/atr/public/workshops/ag2010/wisconsin-agenda.htm.

Minnesota Farmers Union (www.mfu.org) is a nonprofit membership-based organization working to protect and enhance the economic interests and quality of life of family farmers and ranchers, as well as rural communities.

Franken Urges Support For Struggling Minnesota Dairy Farmers

U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) urged U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack to take quick action in response to disastrously low milk prices. Minnesota’s dairy farmers are still struggling to recover from last year’s historic low prices and milk prices are projected to remain below the cost of production. Sen. Franken joined 21 of his colleagues in a letter to Secretary Vilsack outlining potential solutions to help struggling dairy farmers.

“I’ve witnessed firsthand how Minnesota’s dairy producers are struggling as a result of this economic crisis,” said Sen. Franken. “There are a lot of different ways we can help our farmers. I’m going to continue to work with Secretary Vilsack and the USDA to make sure we are exploring all of them, so Minnesota’s dairy producers get the help they need.”

The USDA took several proactive steps in response to low dairy prices last year. Similar actions should be taken this year, such as continuing the Dairy Export Incentive Program (DEIP), expediting DEIP payments and using the Dairy Product Price Support Program (DPPSP) to bolster the falling prices for non-fat dried milk, barrel cheese, and cheddar block cheese. In 2009, the USDA helped increase market prices without causing product acquisitions by the Commodity Credit Corporation by temporarily raising support prices. In that instance, the USDA was able to help dairy farmers earn a higher market price for their products without having to purchase cheese at the increased prices. The USDA could take the same action today to temporarily increase market prices to aid dairy producers, without incurring the costs of a purchase.

To view the letter sent to Secretary Vilsack click here: http://franken.senate.gov/files/letter/100414_Vilsack_Dairy_Letter.pdf