Congresswoman Seeks Grassroots Solutions to Dairy Crisis

Carol Ann Gregg
Western Pa. Correspondent

BUTLER, Pa. — When U.S. Congresswoman Kathy Dahlkemper hosted a dairy solution forum at the Butler Farm Show Grounds this past Monday, she did not come with a solution to the national dairy crisis.

Instead, she sought recommendations from a group of more than 100 farmers from the length and breadth of her district.

Dahlkemper, a “Blue Dog” Democrat, represents Pennsylvania’s District 3, which covers most of the northwestern part of the state.

Dairy producers, implement dealers, veterinarians, feed consultants and agricultural lenders were represented at the forum. The positions of farm organizations were also shared.

The public and even farmers often don’t realize the impact that the dairy industry has on the community.

“For every nine cows, one job is created,” said John Frey, executive director of the Pennsylvania Center for Dairy Excellence. “Every dairy cow has a $14,000 impact on the commonwealth’s economy. With 50,000 cows that is a huge impact.

“I recently heard someone say ‘dairy farms grow the next generation of leaders in the community,’” he said.

Dahlkemper anticipates Congress to soon finalize approval for $350 million in relief for the dairy industry.

Frey urged producers to contact their legislators to let them know what they want. “Legislators don’t know if we don’t tell them.”

With the human population continuing to grow, Frey said he believes in a bright future for dairy.

Pennsylvania has three members on the House Agriculture Committee in Washington. Beside Dahlkemper are Glenn Thompson (R-5) and Tim Holden (D-17), vice chairman of the committee. Senator Robert Casey (D) serves on the Senate Agriculture Committee.

Paula Meabon, Erie County dairy farmer and member of the National Dairy Promotion and Research Board, talked about the current programs made possible by the check-off funds that comes from each producer.

“Because of the current crisis, the board voted to move $35 million from long term to short term projects,” Meabon said. The job of the national dairy board is to increase demand for milk produced in this country.

Through partnerships with McDonald’s and Domino’s Pizza, more milk has been used by the consuming public, according to Meabon.

The dairy board has also been working with the school lunch program.

“We know that kids like pizza but their don’t like school cafeteria pizza,” Meabon said. By working together they were able to create a pizza that was tastier and met the nutritional guidelines of a school lunch. The pizza used twice as much low-fat cheese than before.

Meabon also described the NFL and dairy board’s “Fuel Up to Play 60,” a program encouraging drinking milk and playing for 60 minutes a day.

“The dairy board wants to move product and move it now,” Meabon said.

State Senator Elder Vogel (R-47) stopped by the meeting on his way to Harrisburg. He said that he had milked his cows before coming to the meeting, like many in the audience. He serves on the Senate Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee.

“The senate has been communicating with the state Milk Marketing Board to see what can be done at the state level,” Vogel said.

The first of several dairy producers to speak was Jake Jones from J-Squared Farm, Titusville.

“It will take a combination of ideas to meet the demands of the market and to find new opportunities for exports,” Jones said.

He said that any solution should benefit consumers, producers and processors.

“I am concerned about product labeling. Real cheese should be labeled 100 percent cheese,” Jones said.

Sheryl Vanco, Warren, dairy farmer and president of the Farmers Union Milk Producers Association, a small independent co-op with members in Pennsylvania, New York and Ohio, shared statistics to illustrate the depth of the crisis.

“National average shows that farmers are losing $100 per cow per day,” Vanco said. She explained how organic milk market had developed a surplus forcing farmers to cut delivery to the dairies by 5 percent. What they did with the excess on their farms was not controlled by the organization. Therefore, the farmers received the usual $25 per hundredweight for 95 percent of their milk.

“There is a fear that Pennsylvania may lose a quarter to a third of its dairy farmers,” she said. “Banks don’t want to see farmers go bankrupt. They don’t want to hold that many farms.”

Vanco also said that by enforcing higher quality standards with a lower somatic cell count, the poorest quality milk would be removed from the market.

Richard Kind, dairy farmer from Grassy Crest Farm, Plain Grove, Lawrence County, described the picture most consumers have of a dairy operation.

“They see a red barn with cows grazing on a green pasture. This isn’t the picture of today’s modern dairy operation,” Kind said.

According to Kind, producers are unorganized, while needs and markets change regionally.

“Milk should be priced regionally,” he said. “The federal orders need fixed. We need to know the truth about how our milk is priced.”

Representatives of the suppliers for the districts dairy farms gave illustrations of the impact on their businesses.

Bill McDowell, McDowell Implement, Grove City, represented machinery dealers. “About half our sales are to dairy farmers,” he said. “Our sales are down by about a half and our accounts receivable are going up. Western Pennsylvania needs the dairy industry.”

Dairy farmer, Jeff Raney, Adamsville, Crawford County spoke as a board member of AgChoice, a farmer-owned financial service cooperative.

“This ag lender remains committed to supporting the dairy industry in this state,” Raney said.

Gabby Durkac, veterinarian with Lash and Associates in Kittanning, Armstrong County, described the practice. There are seven veterinarians, three for large animals and four for pets. They service mostly Armstrong, Butler and Indiana counties. With 40 years in practice, he has seen three generations of farmers.

“We have seen our farm visits go down seven percent and our accounts receivable go up 50 percent,” Durkac said.

“I see more farmers self-treating their animals. Then, when things get worse they call but it is sometimes too late,” he said. “I have seen farmers who know their cows have DA (displaced abomasum) cull the cow rather than pay for surgery. Cows are being culled just to generate a little cash.”

Some are skimping on nutrition which will have an impact on the future of the herd. Farmers are also reducing fertilizer and chemical inputs to save money but can have an impact on crop yield.

Having talked to haulers, Durkac said he has been told there isn’t enough milk locally for the cheese plants and milk is being hauled in from the mid-West.

Jeff Haynum, a financial consultant to agriculture input providers, spoke on behalf of Witmer Feed and Grain in northeastern Ohio that provides services to Pennsylvania dairy farmers along the Ohio border. Since his job is to review the numbers for Witmer’s, he has seen the accounts receivable increasing.

“Banks want to see black ink,” Haynum said. “When Witmer’s goes to the bank, the bank looks at its profitability.”

“Traditionally, poor managers were the ones who were put on ‘cash only.’ Now, it is the good managers,” he said.

As Dahlkemper responded to questions, she often asked more questions back to the audience.

From her perspective, there needs to be an immediate influx of cash as a short term solution to see farmers through the rough time. Then, a long term solution needs to be found to increase stability to the industry. She also said that she believed the dairy export program needed to be reactivated.

The last farm bill called for a study of the Federal Order system. Currently U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack is pulling together a commission of 15 that will include producers to study the pricing system and to come up with recommendations.

As the conversation continued Dahlkemper pleaded with the audience for someone who could give her a tutorial on the milk pricing system.

She drew applause when she said, “I thing that all food coming into this country should meet our standards.”

She asked the audience their opinion about dairy cooperatives, “Should they be regional or national?” The response was varied. One person in the audience said that too often farmers don’t take their concerns about their cooperative to the farmer-board members that represent them.

Russell Redding, acting Pennsylvania secretary of agriculture, made the trip across the state to be at the meeting.

“We never want to waste a crisis,” Redding said. “Critical reform is a burden for all of us. We need to recognize the important of the dairy industry to the state.”

“It is not going to happen by sitting back and waiting but you need to be ready to fight for it,” he said.

Elaine Duncan, who farms with her husband on a dairy farm in Meadville, attended the forum.

“Most everything has been said about the situation,” she said. “I think there should be a supply management program that is run by the farmers with no government money involved.

“Milk pricing should be clear and transparent. We should get so much for what goes out the door.”

The conversation continues.