Senators introduce bill to help dairy farmers get a fair price for their milk
Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and Senators Bob Casey (D-Pa.) today introduced legislation to help dairy farmers get a fair price for their milk. The Federal Milk Marketing Improvement Act of 2009 will provide relief and assistance to Pennsylvania dairy farmers who are seeing prices as low as $10 and $11 for a hundredweight of milk – down from $24 per hundredweight this past July.
“I am pleased to work with Senator Casey to establish a more stable and fair dairy pricing system for the farmers of Pennsylvania,” Specter said. “This bill will address the increasing costs of milk production and help to protect our dairy producers’ crucial industry.”
“Dairy farmers continue to struggle to make a living at a time when the money they bring home for their milk only covers a fraction of the cost to produce it. Today, dairy farmers are receiving the lowest price for their milk since the 1970s,” said Casey. “Pennsylvania risks losing our dairy farms, which would seriously jeopardize the economy of the entire state.”
The Federal Milk Marketing Improvement Act of 2009 strengthens the price of milk paid to dairy farmers by requiring that all milk produced in the United States be priced using a national average cost of production. The U.S. Secretary of Agriculture would be required to reassess milk prices quarterly each year, ensuring that extreme price volatility – as farmers have seen in recent months – is mitigated.
Senators Specter and Casey have been strong advocates for Pennsylvania’s dairy industry. The Senators introduced similar legislation in the last Congress, and Senator Casey succeeded in adding two amendments during the Agriculture Committee’s consideration of the 2007 Farm Bill that would help dairy farmers get a fair price for their milk based on their input costs. Today’s bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on Agriculture, a committee on which Senator Casey sits.
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