More Plunder

Trade data came out today, June 10, 2009. The loss of dairy exports from the U.S. is interesting. The dollar difference between January – April of 2009 compared with the same period in 2008 was a total of $ 638,185,000 less.

Take the average all milk price for the period January – April 2008 compared with the same four months of 2009, then multiply that difference by the amount of milk produced in 2009, you will find only a bit over a dollar a hundredweight from farm milk checks would have taken care of the loss of exports. An additional, totally unjustified, $3,645,770,000 extra was taken from American dairy farmers in the name of the market system.

Furthermore, the export data for March 2009 show a drop of 32.6% in the volume exported. However, and this is important, USDA shows an increase in “Commercial Disappearances” for March of 2009, the latest available month, of just over one percent. Domestic consumption is not faltering.