Dairy ‘herd’ protests in D.C.

[Robbien]

Source: Ag Week

WASHINGTON — Small dairy farmers donned cow suits July 14 in Washington to protest that that they had been excluded from a House Agriculture subcommittee hearing on plummeting raw milk prices, and House Agriculture Chairman Collin Peterson, D-Minn., dropped in on the hearing to announce that the subcommittee should hold two more hearings before Congress’ August break.

Milk prices have dropped by half within a year, and dairy farmers with operations of all sizes have said they are in dire financial trouble. The Agriculture Department already has bought nonfat dry milk and authorized export subsidies, but the farmers say they need more help to stave off bankruptcy.

Peterson said national farm groups should be invited to one of the hearings and that another hearing should examine the impact of international trade on the dairy situation. House Agriculture Livestock, Dairy and Poultry Subcommittee Chairman David Scott, D-Ga., said the other hearings already are in the works.

The National Family Farm Coalition organized the protest. The National Farmers Union did not participate in the protest, but NFU lobbyist Katy Ziegler Thomas said in an e-mail that “a lot of our folks were surprised and discouraged that no producer organizations were invited to testify.”

Only Agriculture Undersecretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services James Miller, House members and dairy groups were invited to testify at the July 14 hearing.

Read more: http://www.agweek.com/articles/?id=5089&article_id=14657&property_id=41

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Only factory farms had a say in the meetings (and of course receiving the bulk of farm subsidies) while it is the small dairy farms who are the ones in dire straights.