Vermont Senator Proposes Regional Dairy Policy
WASHINGTON. D.C.—Sena
tor Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Chair
man of the Senate"-Agriculture
Committee today introduced one
of the most sweeping reform prop
osals since the dairy program was
created in the 1930’5.
“I am introducing this bill”
Leahy stated, “because I am con
cerned about trends that I see in
milk production that are distorting
the intention of the 1985 Farm Bill,
which was to hold down milk pro
duction and thus the cost of the
dairy program.
“A program designed to save the
family dairy farm by reducing
excessive supply, may inadver
tently hurt family fanners, while
rewarding excessive production on
huge farms.
“We must have a regional dairy
program, because in most regions,
the goals of the Farm Bill have
been met Production is either
down or level. But there are some
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notable exceptions to this pattern.
In a few areas, milk production is
skyrocketing. In California for
instance, September USDA fig
ures show a 12 percent
expansion.”
In introducing the Dairy Farm
Protection Act Leahy laid out the
three goals of the legislation.
* We have to hold down the cost
of the dairy program.
* We must protect dairy farm
ing across this country.
* We must have a fair program.
“Here is the problem facing the
dairy industry now. If the govern
ment buys more than five billion
pounds of milk product, the Sec
retary of Agriculture must lower
the price support level by 50 cents
a year as a penalty for excessive
production.
(The government supports dairy
prices by purchasing excess pro
duction. In addition to its price
support role, this purchase is a type
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of “national milk security reserve” hj s & f o u ows;
to meet the needs of our school “The basic structure and trigger
lunch and other nutrition under the Farm Bill will remain
programs.) intact The Government could con-
“Many dairy farmers see this
price cut coming but they rightly
feel that they do not deserve it.
In his remarks Leahy described
why these farmers believe that
these cuts are unfair:
“For most of the country,
including Vermont production is
down. These farmers have-not
increased their production. So why
are they facing this cut? Because of
a decision that a dairyman, in some
other state, is making to expand his
production.
“That is not fair,” Leahy empha
sized, “and I want to do something
about it “We will be seeing a
change in the whole structure of
the dairy industry in the years to
come in a way that the Congress
never intended.”
In his remarks, Leahy outlined
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tinue to buy up to five billion
pounds of product with no impact
on the price support level. But
instead of using continuing price
cuts to keep government costs in
line, I want to move in a new
direction.”
“We need more local control
over dairy policy, so I am propos
ing that we divide the country, into
basic dairy regions. Each region
would have a board of local pro
ducers and each region would have
a CCC base. That is, each region
would be assigned an amount of
allowable CCC sales, based on the
average of what that region sold to
the government over the past two
years.”
“If the region does not increase
its sales to the government, the
price support would not be cut.
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However, if the region sold more
to the government next year, then
the producers would have to pay an
assessment on the increase.
“Under this plan, we would no
longer use across-the-board price
cuts to achieve control over pro
duction. We would give more con
trol to the local producers, and we
would hold down the cost to the
American taxpayer.
“My bill would allow some
experimentation within regions if
the producers wanted to hold down
government sales, and thus avoid
paying an assessment. The Pro
ducer Board could poll local dairy
men on various program alterna
tives, from product promotion to
production control proposals.
“Each region would be respon
sible for itself. No longer would
dairy farmers in one region be pen
alized by overproduction in some
other area of the country..
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