USDA secretary asked to help increase milk prices

A group of 61 members of the U.S. Senate and House have sent a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack asking him to take action to raise prices dairies across the country are paid for their milk.

 

Milk prices have been on a decline nationally since 2009, though they did peak briefly to record-high levels in 2014 before declining again.

California dairies have been particularly hard hit by the declining milk prices, as the state has its own pricing system that dairy operators here have complained gives them less money for their milk than dairies in most other states get under the federally-run milk-pricing system.

 

As such, California dairy operators have been working in recent years to get the California off the state’s pricing system and transferred to the federal Milk Marketing Orders.

 

If that happens, California dairies might benefit from slightly better prices for their milk, though they still would remain low unless milk prices improve nationally.

 

The National Farmers Union and dairy farm organizations and cooperatives across the country lobbied members of Congress and the Senate to urge USDA to provide relief for dairies.

 

Among the reasons for the current low milk prices cited in the letter are U.S. milk production is up 2 percent, which tend to lower prices, and milk production in other countries also is up.

 

The complete article can be found at: http://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/story/news/local/2016/07/28/usda-secretary-asked-help-increase-milk-prices/87692374/