Washington D.C. (February 16, 2009) -The Dairy Sub-committee of the National Family Farm Coalition on February 9 delivered for a third time an urgent request to Senator Patrick 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 their affiliates National Dairy Holdings, Dairy Marketing Services (DMS), DairyAmerica, Dean Foods, Fonterra, etc. To date, NFFC has not received a response from Senator Leahy. Paul Rozwadowski, a Wisconsin dairy farmer and NFFC Sub-committee chairman said, "With farm milk prices collapsing by over $5 in February, the situation for dairy farmers is the worst we have ever seen in our lifetimes. 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 and it is incredibly frustrating that Sen. Leahy has failed to answer our calls for reform."

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. Farmers are now facing $10 per hundredweight (cwt) in California and $12 cwt in other parts of the country while the national cost of production is over $20 cwt. Bryan Wolfe, an Ohio dairy farmer and vice-president of Ohio Farmers Union, said, "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. As chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Leahy should stand up for dairy farmers-still an important constituency in Vermont and across the country-and consumers. He needs to look into the corruption that is allowing these extreme price drops to happen."

NFFC has also called for the Department of Justice to release the findings of its two-year investigation into DFA and sent a letter to Congress in January requesting emergency stimulus measures for dairy farmers. Those letters can be found on our website at www.nffc.net.