Richfield Springs, N.Y.
Building upon an unprecedented dairy farmer presence in Washington for the final House Agriculture Committee hearing in July, dairy farmers and their allies will descend on Washington Wednesday, Dec. 2.
Politicians are being influenced by messages, particularly from cooperatives and processors that do not appropriately portray the state of the industry. Dairy farmers and their allies will be delivering their messages on Dec. 2 as they did in July to keep checks and balances in the political influence as well as building bridges with congressional representatives of suburban and urban areas.
The day’s itinerary includes appointments with House and Senate Agriculture committee members as well as House Education and Labor committee members, and attending the Future Trends in Animal Agriculture symposium – “The Future of Animal Agriculture: 2030 What Will Animal Agriculture Look Like? What Should Animal Agriculture Look Like?” For registration info and symposium details, go to www.nal.usda.gov/awic/news/FTAADec09.pdf.
This will be a coast-to-coast, coordinated effort with messages being delivered simultaneously to district offices of congressmen and senators. Those interested need not be in Washington to be a part of this message delivery. For assistance with scheduling district office appointments or writing letters, contact Tammy Graves at gravesarborgraphics@yahoo.com, on Facebook or at 315-858-0163.
“Dairy farmers know their dues-taking organizations are not acting with conviction or speaking on their behalf,” says Barbara Borges-Martin, a California dairy farmer. “I’ll be echoing the D.C. voices in to my representative’s California offices.”
The summary of messages includes three short-term items and one long-term item: big tariffs on milk protein concentrate (MPC) needed because MPCs are not approved for food use; mandatory audit of food companies’ dairy product inventory is necessary for dairy farmers to have honest price triggers and correct supply management data; a temporary floor price of at least $17 to reflect cost of production; and long-term, a new price discovery mechanism utilizing a percentage of cost of production and/or a percentage of retail coupled with supply management.
“We are excited to be launching our campaign of building bridges with metropolitan representatives,” says Debbie Windecker, a dairy farmer from Frankfort, N.Y. “Just as dairy farmers and consumers need to connect, we will be building bridges between our rural and urban politicians. I have been told first-hand and repeatedly that there is a real disconnect between them.”
She adds that they will be asking “Do your constituents accept and approve of their food coming from the world’s lowest-cost producer regardless of what country that may be and rely on other countries for food as we do for oil?” In regards to milk, the U.S. will never be the lowest-cost producer in the world, according to Windecker.
A bus will depart from the Riverside Shopping Area in Utica, N.Y., at 10 p.m. Dec. 1 and arrive in Washington by 7 a.m. Dec. 2. The bus will depart Washington at 5 p.m. To reserve your seat at $30 per seat contact Bryan Gotham at 315-405-6456 or blcgotham@yahoo.com; fundraising will continue.
A bus will depart from Wegman’s parking lot in Hornell, N.Y. on Dec 1. To reserve your seat at $50 per seat, contact Lisa Robinson at 607-525-6329 or robinsonfarms@zooninternet.net; fundraising will continue.
Other states are finalizing arrangements. To receive an update on states’ trip plans, contact Bryan Gotham at blcgotham@yahoo.com, on Facebook or call 315-405-6456.
