Action 2 News was told about 75 dairy farmers, mostly in Wisconsin, received a letter from Grassland Dairy Monday.
The letter states the company is cutting back on the amount of milk it buys because of new dairy regulations in Canada, where the company currently ships of lot of its products.
The new regulations mean they won’t be able to sell there anymore and won’t need as much milk to produce those products.
It said starting May 1, Grassland Dairy won’t be accepting milk from dozens of farms in our area.
«Really sent a lot of families, a lot of dairy families in Wisconsin, into a whirlwind on to ‘what do we do now?’ considering that we’re working in a market that’s already flooded with product?» said Dori Lichty, a dairy farmer.
She said most dairy farmers ship all of their milk to one company, so finding another company to buy their milk is critical, but difficult.
«We have spent the last 24 hours on the phone calling around trying to find ideas, find market opportunities,» Lichty said.
She said she remains optimistic.
Action 2 News called Grassland Dairy but did not receive a call back.
Congressman Mike Gallagher (R-Green Bay) released this statement Tuesday evening:
“Canada is breaking longstanding trade agreements and Wisconsin farmers are paying the price. The announcement that Grassland Dairy will be cutting its milk intake from our local farms because of new Canadian regulations preventing the sale of our dairy products in their country is not consistent with our values nor our agreements. Trade must be free but fair, and Canada must play by the rules and end their protectionist policies. I’ve contacted the U.S. Trade Representative on this issue and will continue to push hard for fairness in the days ahead.”
Source: WBay
Link: http://www.wbay.com/content/news/Grassland-Dairy-not-taking-farmers-milk-418262653.html
