A2B-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 2, 1995
Vital Message Needs Exposure
PITTSBURGH—Extending
greetings from Gov. Tom Ridge,
Agriculture Secretary Charles
Brosius, who spoke at Milk Mar
keting Inc.’s annual banquet Nov.
20, officially welcomed MMI del
egates and leaders to
Pennsylvania.
In the face of so many strug
gling dairy farmers around the
state, Brosius said it was “exciting
to see the opportunities you’re
taking advantage of’—from the
unification of MMI and Eastern
Milk Producers to innovative pro
duct development
Agriculture is still the number
one industry in Pennsylvania, he
said, with dairying leading the list
The challenges facing dairy far
mers are such that “you have to be
the very best manager you can
be,” he said. “But no matter how
sharp we are...we just can’t con
trol or predict everything.” That’s
where cooperatives can make all
the difference, he said. ‘T’ve been
a cooperative supporter all my
life. I recognize the historical sig
nificance of farmers banding
together to do collectively what
we can’t do for ourselves...”
He added: “But we must be willing to embrace
new ideas...to change...MMl is doing just that..”
“This new partnership is good for you as a co-op,
and for the industry,” he said, referring to the MMI-
Eastern Milk merger.
Praising the co-op’s interest in innovative pro
ducts and new opportunities, Brosius said: “Your
cooperative leadership has the vision to position you
in the world market order.”
Brosius also said it was appropriate to recognize
American farmers for producing a safe, abundant
and reasonably priced food supply. “It’s time to go
out and tell legislators” that message, he said.
At the Annual Business Meeting the following
morning, MMI president and board chair Herman
Brubaker also told farmers it was imperative to get
the word out to legislators and the public.
“We have been riding a tidal wave,” he said,
referring to “the dramatic change in public percep
tion” of farm programs. “Programs we’ve had for
the past 60 years are being challenged... Federal
orders. Export incentives. Price supports. Through
out all this food is not even an issue.”
For the past six months, he said, MMI and other
dairy cooperatives have been fighting “total deregu
lation;” that is, the effort to eliminate the federal
order system. “The charge of total deregulation is
being led by a few educators and some politicians,
processors and dairy producers who have convinced
the uninformed public that the nation—its farmers
and its consumers—will be better off without dairy
programs. That’s regionalism at best It’s also far
mers who have forgotten their cooperative history
lesson;” namely, farmers individually may not have
the power to craft their own futures, “but, together,
they have all of the power and resources at their
disposal—if they would just use them.”
Noting that the dairy industry, with the help of the
northeast congressional delegation, stood in the way
of the budget reconciliation process for nearly a
month and “refused to concede on the issue of elimi
nating market orders,” Brubaker said the “win” is
only temporary. The attacks will continue, he
warned.
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"What we’re really dealing with
is a commonly held public percep
tion that agriculture programs in
general and dairy in particular are:
1) out of date; 2) not relevant to
today’s marketplace; 3) unfair to
consumers; 4) too expensive to
maintain, and S) government
assistance to a privileged few.”
He quoted President Harry Tru
man, who, when asked why peo
ple call him “Give ’em hell, Har
ry”, said: “I don’t give them hell, I
just tell them the truth and, to
them, it feels like hell.”
“That’s what we’ve been doing,
and we can’t let up,” he said.
“Dairy farmers, through their co
ops, absolutely held back the fron
tal attack...Daiiy cooperatives are
as important today as any time in
history.”
Public support for co-ops has
faded, Brubaker said. Some mem
bers of Congress think co-ops
don’t represent farmers anymore,
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and some individual farmers
regard cooperatives as just another
buyer of milk, he said, noting:
“Something is wrong! When the
benefits of cooperatives become
lost or taken for granted, we open
the door for the kinds of attacks
and opinions that we are facing.”
Calling for a dose of “co-op
fever,” the MMI board chairman
recounted benefits MMI provides,
such as market security, a merger
propelling MMI into third spot in
the nation, its Fanner Dairy Foods
manufacturing arm that is die 12th
largest dairy processing firm in
the U.S., and paying farmers an
extra $4.1 million in earnings in
18 months.
“We are headed for a world
without a support price.” Brubak
er said. “We are headed for a
world that is unregulated—no
controls, no mechanisms—the
free market that people refer to.
We are in, not headed for, a
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NAAB Honors Chichester
PLAIN CITY, Ohio Richard
Chichester, general manager of
Select Sires Inc. is the recipient of
the 199 S NAAB Distinguished
Service Award. The Plain City,
Ohio resident was recently hon
ored at the 49th Annual National
Association or Animal Breeders
Convention.
Select Sites lias experienced
struggle with the buyers in the
market to control the pricing func
tion. We’re in a marketplace
where the purchasing power is
amassing in larger and larger
organizations. We are in a world
with no international borders.”
He exhorted: “Now is not the
time fc.' us to walk away from
what we’ve built... Now is the time
to fight for the cooperative rights
we gained in (lie 1920 s (through
the Copper Volstead Act).”
“Co-op fever. MMI fever.
Catch it. Preach it. Support
it... Together we are creating the
future!”
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success under the leadership of
Chichester, according to its news
release.
Chichester said, “Our Board of
Directors and committees must
never lose sight of the fact that they
are elected to serve farmers and
represent their best interests. All of
us, directors, committeemen and
employees are accountable for our
judgments and actions. Let us nev
er fail to be responsive.”
Since Chichester accepted the
manager’s post in August 1973,
Select has tripled its sales volume.
In 1990 the position was strength
ened as the federation marketed a
record-setting rive million units, a
feat the organization surpassed in
1993 and 1994.
Select Sires is a federation of 11
farmer-owned and controlled
cooperatives, serving the largest
number of co-op members in the
U.S. The federation’s basic objec
tive is to supply livestock breeders
with America’s best genetics.
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