Coalition of Wisconsin Based Farm Organizations Asking US Ag Department to Use Purchasing Power to Help Dairy Industry
Friday, April 3rd, 2020 -- 9:01 AM
(Wisconsin Ag Connection) -A coalition of Wisconsin-based farm organizations are asking the U.S. Department of Agriculture to use its purchasing power to bring relief to the American dairy industry in light of the economic woes brought on by the Coronavirus.In a letter to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, the groups urged the federal government to purchase milk and cheese products with money made available through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security, CARES, Act, which the President signed last week. The letter further said dairy processors and farmers are working together to find solutions, but these circumstances are beginning to result in fresh farm milk being dumped as local processing plants are running out of storage space. During a conference call with the media on Thursday, John Umhoefer of the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association said producers, processors, organizations and state governmental agencies are collaborating to keep milk flowing through the food supply chain. Gordon Speirs, who owns Shiloh Dairy in Brillion, added that it will inevitably take a large government effort to save the industry at this point. The dairy leaders also noted that there is no official government program in place at this time to help producers who are being asked to dump their milk.
But Speirs feels it may be more advantageous for the industry as a whole to swallow those losses so individual operations aren't pegged as winners and losers in a situation they cannot control. In addition, the industry is also facing financial hardship due to disrupted foreign business. Umhoefer says trading ports are not only at full capacity right now, but the labor force at those facilities have also been effected by COVID-19. The letter to Perdue was signed by Dave Buholzer, Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association; Brody Stapel, Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative; Tom Crave, Dairy Business Association; Dan Smith, Cooperative Network; Joe Bragger, Wisconsin Farm Bureau; Jay Heeg, Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin; and Darin Von Ruden, Wisconsin Farmers Union. Meanwhile, State Interim Ag Secretary Randy Romanski also sent a letter to USDA this week advocating for a government purchase of surplus commodities. He also urged Perdue to consider re-opening the enrollment of the Dairy Margin Coverage program.
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