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| NFFC's Dairy
Subcommittee has repeatedly urged Senator Leahy (D-VT) to convene hearings
into the widespread corruption and antitrust practices of the nation's
largest dairy cooperative, Dairy Farmers of America (DFA), and its affiliates
National Dairy Holdings, Dairy Marketing Services (DMS), DairyAmerica,
Dean Foods, Fonterra, and others. NFFC has worked tirelessly to expose the failures of a milk pricing system that allows a few corporate players to manipulate prices on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Due to NFFC's efforts and protests, Dairy Farmers of America was fined $12 million for price manipulation in December 2008. |
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Dairy
News
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Washington Post Publishes NFFC Letter in Response to Outrageous Anti-Dairy Farmer Op-Ed (10.20.09) NFFC Press Teleconference Urges Direct Payments to Dairy Farmers (10.13.09) U.S. Dairy Farmers Link with Intl. Farmers to Protest Global Dairy Crisis (09.18.09) Dairy Support Price Increase Unlikely to Stop Farm Bankruptcies (07.31.09) NFFC Testifies in Congressional Hearing on Dairy Crisis (07.21.09) NFFC Discusses Dairy Crisis on Diane Rehm (Audio) - NFFC Executive Director Kathy Ozer and Paul Rozwadoski, a dairy farmer from Stanley, Wisconsin, and chairman of the Dairy Subcommittee, appeared on the Diane Rehm show to discuss the dairy crisis. (07.15.09) |
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"Farmers from California to Wisconsin to Vermont are being threatened with extinction not due to overproduction, but thanks to a corrupt pricing system that fails to consider farmers' cost of production. DFA has a virtual monopoly on milk markets in many parts of the country." - Paul Rozwadowski, Wisconsin dairy farmer and NFFC Subcommittee Chairman. |
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"With these prices, many experts predict only 20% of dairy farmers will be able to survive the coming months. This would be a catastrophe for both our rural communities and for consumers demanding local, fresh milk and wary of tainted dairy imports." - Bryan Wolfe, Ohio dairy farmer and vice-president of the Ohio Farmers Union. |
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Dairy Industry Updates
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(12.11.09) (12.09.08) |
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Read
NY dairy farmer John Bunting's revealing report,
"Dairy Farm Crisis 2009: A Look Beyond Conventional Analysis" |
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NFFC Dairy Subcommittee
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The Dairy Subcommittee operates as part of the Farm and Food Policy Task Force. NFFC organizations with dairy farmer constituents formed the Subcommittee to address the need for a national forum to coordinate effective responses to the current dairy crisis. The Dairy Subcommittee is composed of dairy farmers who work for long-term policy solutions. Participants represent farm and rural organizations from all over the country, but concentrated in the Northeast and Midwest. Mostly dairy farmers, Subcommittee members have expertise conducting research and analysis on dairy issues, working with public officials to seek policy change, and providing information to the press and media. The Dairy Subcommittee amplifies the members' collective ability to impact public policy by providing focus and resources. The NFFC's Washington D.C. farm policy staff increases the Subcommittee's access to federal legislators and regulators, as well as to other national organizations concerned with farm and food policy issues. |
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Goals
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Priorities
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1. Defend the integrity
of dairy products-protecting the Food and Drug Administration's current
definition of milk, yogurt, and ice cream. 2. Petition U.S. and state governments to enforce and uphold the law-particularly Food and Drug Administration's warning companies that use an illegal dairy ingredient called milk protein concentrate. 3. Explore and promote alternative marketing and production models for dairy products. 4. Network with consumer, student, religious, and other groups to build a coalition that advocates for social justice within various dairy issues. 5. Provide an effective voice for dairy farmers, offering an alternative to corporate fronts that purport to represent family farmers through cooperatives. 6. Expose corporations' price manipulation on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). |
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Dairy Farmers Host Emergency Rally in Iowa (06.03.09) Dairy Farmers Press Congress for Emergency Action to Stem Economic Collapse (05.20.09) Dairy Farmers Call Vilsack Dairy Measures Inadequate (03.26.09) Dairy Farmers Refute Milk Price Collapse Caused by Overproduction (03.04.09) Dairy Farmers and Consumer Group Host Press Teleconference on Collapse in Milk Prices (02.05.09) Dairy Farmers Urge Emergency Measures in Stimulus Package (01.29.09) Dairy Farmers Condemn National Milk Producers Federation CEO Speech (12.09.08) Dairy farmers, plants agree price system broken (08.23.08) - Watertown Daily Times expresses the concern bymany over the recent Make Allowance deduction Dairy Farmers Praise Monsanto Selling Off rBGH Division (8.13.08) - NFFC expressed its delight today at news that Monsanto would sell off its division for rBGH, a growth hormone legalized by the FDA in 1993 after minimal testing. Dairy farmers noted that what they need far more than 'efficiency' and 'technology' is a fair price. Is Dairy Co-op Milking the System? (07.15.08) - Kansas City Star talks about the Kansas City based Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) and the allegations brought against it Low Price is Bankrupting Dairy Farmers (05.25.06): Arden Tewksbury, Manager of Progressive Agriculture, exposes the dairy system for what it is in the Topeka Capital Journal. Dairy Farmers Cry Foul Protesting low milk prices outside the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (04.11.06) - NFFC farmer leaders demonstrated what was necessary for a fair price as reported in Reuters. |
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nffc@nffc.net ph (202) 543-5675 (c) 2008 National Family Farm Coalition |
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