If, through what ever means, the supply of milk in the U.S. could be brought completely in line with demand, there would still be the problem of determining price. Who will decide what farm milk is worth?
Those, between the farm and consumer have taken an ever larger slice. If the farm is going to get more for a balanced supply/demand, the money will have to come from somewhere.
Sooner or later, the logistics of the supply chain will need to be examined. So far, no one has expressed an interest.
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It's about time we stood up to the powers that be. That's the only way we will get any kind of price that fairly covers our true expenses, not to mention digging ourselves out of 2010 debt. We need to tell the true story to the consumer- as ugly as it may be.They need to know we have families with needs like food, shoes and clothing,school supplies, lunch money, college tuition, just like everyone else, while our farms deteriorate. There's no money for repairs, painting, not even enough to cover the everyday bills. People will soon think everything is okay when our price goes up a bit. They won't remember that we lost mega bucks in 2010 and the profit hasn't been great for many years because we always have to play catch-up for the ever longer low periods. They need to know it will take years to pay down the bills created in 2010, and that they don't have to tell us we should be okay now because the price of milk went up. I haven't heard anyone speak about the consequences of these low periods on our retirement. We can't get any social security credit when we don't make a profit, and if you don't have a working spouse, nothing can be set aside in an IRA. Yet all we do is work, work, and work. We have to worry about the future now- not when it's too late. Let them know how we have to struggle. They need to hear personal stories about what we have to sacrifice to subsidize milk because the usda refuses to set fair prices or enforce its own rules. They have to be reminded that all middlemen except the dairy farmer get their fair share and more. They need to know how much it costs to operate a dairy farm and that we are the most heavily mortgaged farmers. They need to hear how the big companies are shuffling our milk to keep our prices down and they need to know that they have no sympathy for us. Let's shout about the corruption and how we can't recoup any money when the big boys cheat us and stuff their pockets.
ReplyDeleteI haven't talked to one consumer who wasn't in favor of country of origin labeling on dairy products, yet our representative said the processors wouldn't go for that- So what? It needs to be done or any killing of cows or attempt at controlling our supply will just be replaced with imports. Do we need to use our check off money to subsize the big boy's ? Let's take it and make our own advertisements for fair pricing. We could even give consumer coupons with some of the money. Do we need to give our hard earned money to movie stars to don a white mustache? Let's write them a script, so someone can make a movie and tell the true story. Got my drift- think outside the box.
Why does the Federal government even price milk at all? That is not the intended role of government as outlined in our founding documents. Why can't I say to my surrounding processors, "Hey, I produce six tons of milk a day, 110,000 SCC, 4.1% BF, 3.2% Pro and I want $28.00 for it." Isn't that free market? Why can't farmers have a shake at the free market?
ReplyDeleteThe only role the government was ever supposed to have in the private sector is making sure interstate commerce remains open. The federal government should be protecting our domestic markets from the intrusion of foreign products, which they are not. I can't help but think of Ronald Reagan saying, "In this present crisis, government is not the solution to the problem; government is the problem." I think we as an industry are foolish if we look to the government or a politician to solve our problems.
Renee
What has happened to the REAL Seal logo? If you go to this web design site - http://www.msdatastep.com/RealSeal.html You will find this
ReplyDelete"The idea:
Dairy Management Inc. evaluated the REAL Seal site and decided to shift the focus from providing little used consumer information to more productive B2B activities. The site needed to be streamlined, and a new, professional look established."
Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! The focus needs to be on educating the consumer by giving the reasons why they should purchase US dairy products with the REAL seal logo. At Dairycheckoff.com I could not find any mention of the REAL seal program. The annual report does not mention it. I think our so called partners have influenced DMI to put the REAL seal on the back burner, of course they would. Look at the user agreement -http://www.realseal.com/Documents/Appendix-A-Rules-of-the-REAL-Seal.pdf and notice the note at the end-
"Note: The above requirements effectively preclude the use of the Real Seal on
any products which contain imported dairy products or ingredients, including
casein, caseinates, MPC, as well as products containing vegetable proteins."
We should take back ownership of the REAL seal logo and promote it. It would be a start.
Any ideas on how to take back the Real seal logo? I think we should pay attention to this suggestion.
ReplyDeleteFire DMI as our promotion contractor!! They are eliminating the REAL seal in an effort to promote foreign products. Several years back they used promotion money to fund air quality studies for the EPA. Now these "studies" are regulations. DMI has also obligated us to reduce ghg, in order to mitigate climate change through so sort of agreement with USDA.
ReplyDeleteFire them suckers!!!