“Our suggestion is for a new pricing formula to be developed that would consider the dairy farmers’ cost of producing milk,” Arden Tewksbury, manager of the Pro-Ag organization said at a press conference in Tunkhannock Monday morning.
His organization and others are petitioning the USDA in hopes of providing relief to dairy farms which have been experiencing serious economic hardships due to inadequate compensation for their milk.
Tewskbury, who is from Meshoppen, said the present pricing structure represents a loss to the average dairy farmer of about 60 cents a gallon.
In Pennsylvania alone, Tewksbury said the loss was approximately $700 million to the dairy farmers in 2016. Multiplied by a factor of five – which he said is a conservative estimate – represents a total of $3.2 billion in lost revenue overall.
The problem, Tewksbury explained, is the weighted average price set by the USDA for milk production does not take into account the cost of production dairy farmers must pay in order to produce milk, butter, cheese and other dairy products.
Annette Kuzma of Vernon said that a contractor offered her a good deal to paint the roof of her barn, but she had to turn it down, even though it needed to be done.
“The only good deal I can now afford is free,” she said.
Brenda Cochran, a dairy farmer from Westfield reported, that last year her farm produced 3.1 million pounds of milk. But the loss the farm suffered that year was more than $500,000.
“It’s a complete rural disaster,” Cochran said of the method used to calculate the amount of money dairy farmers receive for their milk.
Because of the losses dairy farmers have been experiencing year after year, they have not been able to pay their bills, she said.
As a result, many of the industries that dairy farmers support have also suffered.
Tewskbury pointed out that feed mills have been disappearing throughout the area, due to farmers not being able to support them, as well as being swallowed up by large corporations.
“This is Custer’s last stand,” Tewksbury warned at the end of the meeting. “If we don’t get what we’re asking for, then we’re out of the picture. All that we’re asking for is a fair price for our milk.”
Source: Wyoming County Examiner
Link: http://wcexaminer.com/news/dairy-farmers-want-fair-price-for-milk-1.2202624