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Cement City dairy farmer dumps 1,300 gallons of milk to protest drop in prices

July 05, 2010, 8:30 AM

In 2009, Woody Wittenberg of Cement City lost a significant part of his income.

As a dairy farmer, he was not alone.

On Sunday, to protest the dropping income of all dairy farmers Wittenberg participated in a nationwide protest as he dumped out 1,300 gallons of raw milk. It ran from a hose down his driveway and onto Cary Street.

“We get what we receive. We don’t set our price,” Wittenberg said. “I don’t know a business in the United States of America who takes what they can get.

“I’m celebrating my Independence Day by voicing my opinion like all Americans should be able to do.”

And when prices dropped in 2009, Wittenberg had an additional $471,000 debt he could not pay.

As of April 26, there were 2,244 dairy farms in Michigan. The dairy industry has a $5.9 billion impact on the state’s economy, said Jennifer Holton, public information officer for the Michigan Department of Agriculture.

It’s not just the fact that dairy farmers are making less money that bothers Wittenberg and other dairy farmers. It’s where the money’s going.

More and more milk is getting imported into the United States, Wittenberg said, so less work is being done within the country.

Another big issue is the concern for how much of the profits are being given to the processors and handlers and how little is being given to the farmers.

Robin Fitch and her husband, Dave, of New York first had the idea for the protest. But it wasn’t just about the protest. It was about getting farmers the help they deserved, Fitch said.

“We feed our nation, and right now our farmers can’t feed themselves,” she said.

Fitch said they went to Washington, D.C., on June 23 to talk to Larry Salathe, senior economist of commodity policy, about farmers receiving more money for production but was told if something could be done it wouldn’t be until 2012.

She said it couldn’t wait that long. So July 4 became Fourth of July Take Back Your Independence Day Dump, where dairy farmers nationwide were asked to dump that day’s produced milk.

Hank Choate of Liberty Township has the last remaining dairy farm in the township. He chose not to participate by pouring out his day’s worth of milk but showed up to be a support to Wittenberg.

“I understand the frustration and financial anguish he’s going through,” Choate said.

His farm has been around for 100 years and has been mainly a dairy farm since 1949.

The difference in his farm from Wittenberg’s is he also grows corn and wheat. If it weren’t for that, Choate said he doesn’t know what his family would have done for revenue.

Milk prices were the lowest he’s ever seen in January 2009. They have slightly increased since then but not enough to make things better for the farmers.

There were protest participants in at least 15 to 20 states, Fitch said.

“It’s not just to be wasteful, we really are in dire straits,” she said. “It’s worse than I ever, ever imagined.”

She wanted to send a message.

Fitch was asking for a floor rate of $18 for every hundredweight of milk, or 11.63 gallons, for the country.

Currently in New York, Fitch said they are getting just more than $16 per hundredweight. In Michigan it is $13.38, Wittenberg said.

Her goal is just to get the cost of production covered.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service’s website, the total cost of production in May for Michigan was $21.84 per hundredweight.

Fitch encourages everyone to contact their congressman or senator to urge them to make a change.

USDA, Dept. of Justice focus on dairy industry competition

By Joshua Palmer

June 29, 2010

The Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have set their regulatory sights on the dairy industry, which both agencies say is consolidating more production and influence among fewer milk producers.

The two federal agencies held a joint meeting Friday in Madison, Wis., to discuss antitrust and regulatory enforcement of the dairy industry. The workshop was similar to those conducted earlier in the year regarding the poultry industry, which led to sweeping reform in antitrust rules surrounding the production and packing of poultry and other meats.

Gina Talamona, spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Justice, said the discussions were organized at the request of Christine Varney, attorney general for the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, and U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

“There were no pre-conceived notions going into this,” Talamona said. “We are just in listening mode.”

Talamona would not say what the agencies planned to do with the information gathered at the meeting, which she called an “unprecedented coordinated effort” between the USDA and Justice Department. In May, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Vilsack pledged to step up antitrust enforcement in agricultural businesses at the request of the Obama administration.

“There is a new attitude in the antitrust division,” Holder said to poultry producers. “Everyone should understand. There is no hesitancy on the part of this antitrust division, in this administration, to take action where we think it is needed. This antitrust division is open for business again.”

Discussions surrounding the poultry industry led to changed in early June, which were approved by President Barack Obama, that made it easier to file suits under the Depression-era Packers and Stockyards Act by stating that farmers don’t need to prove industrywide anticompetitive behavior to file a lawsuit under the act.

“The dairy industry has been hit particularly hard over the past 18 months, and, like other agricultural sectors, is experiencing consolidation and shrinking farm numbers,” said Vilsack in a written statement. “A fair and competitive marketplace is important not only for producers, but also for consumers.”

Bob Naerebout, executive director of the Idaho Dairymen’s Association, said the discussions are currently focusing primarily around processors in the eastern United States. Nevertheless, he said his association is keeping a close eye on the discussions.

“Anytime you have a group of federal agencies get together, there is always the concern about changes that will affect us,” he said. “I don’t know of any dairy organization that isn’t keeping an eye on this.”

Idaho is the third largest milk producer in the nation, with the Magic Valley leading the charge toward larger operations that have replaced smaller producers — any sweeping regulatory reform, such as those changes that were made to the poultry industry could have a significant impact on Idaho.