Many Issues Surround Northeast Dairy
VERNON ACHENBACH JR. , ... . „ , .. ... ' /
T B . would be forever stymied, and the nationally leading milk production
HARRISBURG Yo*andP*ms>'lva
n \ tv. looA n:ii toy, 811(1 others, would never be ma, efforts have been underway to
. from commodity prpducUon effi- to include those Mid-Atlantic
®, TT . P c SU PP ? cicncies and modernizations. states and several others into the
rams for UmtedStates agricultural othcr wolds> such Northcast compact.
UC^ S f • C i 68115 price manipulations would con- There are also efforts to create a
tu* 1 e’u e .U*' r rinue to prove to be a sinkhole for Southern Compact and a North-
W,* the fall of the former ta doUars md add west Compact
Soviet Umon and the Communist ... .. ....
Party in most of the world, long 'wj!' a Y*** *** Northeast Dairy
time trade obstacles mostly removed, slowly responding Compact Commission added reg
prolcctionistic policies created cratlc overlord to daily ulations to control the amount of
unfair and problematic difficulties Northeast Dairy Compactis
to f rec global teade, especial y for
S agncultural farm rfce support fa
mdustry seeking to export
For the UmtedStates and trad- to farm
U J B^ rtae i.T° n t? ee ° pen rather consumers are required to
global trade has been seen as a pay sUg htlyhigherretailpricesfor
catalyst to unproved economic dn^ 6^
conditions and improved individu- While it could be argued that the
al human condiUons additional retail cost consumers
Agncultural production protec- pay to support dairy farmerincom
uons, specifically those m which a a f om of a sales tax, and thus
nation s government subsidizes footin b y,
producer incomes and artificially Northeast Dai Compact was ’
owers world commodity originally / d for {£ Ncw
through export suteidics.had been lanadon
amajorblockmsettlmgthcGener- that fanns were F esMlial
frATST enton to i,s P lctures que landscape,
. . the landscape is essential to tour-
The World Trade Organization m of
resulted from years of GATT dis- economic for 4 W
cussions, and serves as an arbitra- England states
tion agency for member nations in simply, the Compact
o m SPUteS : • Commission consisting of del-
The 1996 Farm Bill s provisions eg ates from each of the participat
t° elmunate fed«al government ■ states represcnting Zry pm
subsidizatton of producer incomes d ucers, processors, and
for agricultural commodiues was a consumers F _ determines thc
major concession made m order to • e .
J .. .. . ... minimum pnee farmers are to
encourage other nations to follow . ...
6 r j 1 receive for their milk, and a retail
smt, as well as to iedu« federal price ofdrinking milk that can pro
spending that was (xmtnbutmg to a vjde
growmg naUonal debt farmers
Export subsidization, which can ndldmvm Mcks wbcn
allow selling commodiues m thc drinking Mlk prices (as b±e
world market at below cost, federal government according to a
requires transferring weal* from fonnula * val .
other businesses to artificially sup- ueso f milk products such as butter
port another business. S e .. ~ .. _
. ..I*. . and cheese) falls below the Com-
The long-term outlook for such n _ LILI • ■. . .
® , pact Commission-set level.
KfL* WhUe the New England states
cover (hr vnt m f Uowcd only produce about 3 percent of the
n*l growth
uveness upon milk shipments from thc
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live burdens improved by the
compact on” schools and the parti
cipants in the Federal Supplemen
tal Food Program for Women,
Infants and Children (commonly
referred to as the “WIC Program").
According to Rep. Bunt, with
regard to the first amendment,
“We thought, perhaps we ought to
have as broad as representation on
the compact as possible and have
the delgation constructed so that
the people’s voices be heard,
rather than having the appoint
ments be made withouth any input
from the farming community "
Under both previous plans, the
governor would have the authority
to appoint delegates to the Com
pact Commission, which only
requires consent by the state
Senate.
Under the House version. Bunt
argued that dairy fanners would
have a much better chance to be
involved in and influence the posi
tions of a Compact delegation.
With .both political party chairs
of the respective state agriculture
committees as Compact delega
tion members, it can be argued that
dairy farmers arc more likely to get
a bipartisan, agriculturally sensi
tive, and issue-aware delegation
that could give dairy farmers more
influence, because of a closer rela
tionship between voters and local
elected representatives.
It is also argued that consistency
would be greater because despite
some turnover in staff to state
Legislature’s standing committees
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House Ag Committee
Dairy Compact Legislation
(Continued from Pag* A 25)
Compact For Pennsylvania
milk that can be shipped to Com
pact receiving plants and then be
shipped back out of the region.
When milk is received at a Com
pact plant it qualifies for Compact
pricing.
According to Kenneth Becker,
executive director of the Compact
Commission, an excessive amount
of milk was being shipped in, qual
ifying for the Compact price, and
then being shipped out again.
Mae recently, the Commission
from time to time, generally there
is a greater chance for continuity of
knowledge about agricultural
issues and historical
developments.
“It brings things a little closer to
home,” Bunt said, in comparing
the proposed structure of the Com
pact delegation. “I would like to
see a stronger presence (on a Com
pact delegation) of members how
are working with agriculture on a
day-in, day-out basis.”
As far as the amendment to
include a sunset provision. Bunt
said it gives Pennsylvania farmers
an opportunity to get out if Pen
nsylvania joins and things start
going badly.
“We did a sunset amendment
because we wanted to make sure
there is an exit provision, in case
we see that this is going to add fuel
to the demise of the small dairy far
mer,” Bunt said, “and that is a
primary concern of the members of
the Ag Committee in the House.
“We see (the Northeast Dairy
Compact) granting short term
relief to small dairy farmers, but
we ate concerned about the long
term impacts.”
He said there appears to be a
growing consensus that the Com-
pact, with its supply management
abilities and other authorities that
can supercede state authority,
could set up a situation whereby
indepedent dairy producers, espe
cially small family farms, could be
minimized, if not sacrificed, in the
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began the process of reviewing a
proposal to create supply manage
ment regulations to provide incen
tives for dairy fanners within the
Compact to maintain or decrease
production.
That issue is set to be discussed
and considered by the Compact
Commission during its June
meeting.
In the meantime, the federal law
(Turn to Pag* A 32)
Amends
name of production controls
designed to stabilize prices.
Production controls could well
build a strong foundation for sta
bilized production, which is being
interpreted as meaning “inte
grated" or “contract" dairy produc
tion industry.
There are other concerns as
well, especially in trying to under
stand why the state’s major farm
organizations have recently
changed policy with regard to pro
duction controls, when they have
historically expressed strong
opposition to government con
trolling individual opportunities to
compete.
“It passed with very reluctant
support," Rep. Bunt said. “And we
do consider the House to be closer
to the people, because of the small
er constituencies.
“Frankly, we have always been
a friend of the dairy farmers," Bunt
said, “and even thought we went to
diem with our concerns and reser
vations, they weren’t greeted well,
because of die short-term benefits.
But keeping in mind the support
(from the farmers and farm organi
zations), we relunctantly agreed to
go along with it
“I hope to God I’m wrong,”
Bunt said about the negative long
term outlook for small dairy far
mers under an expanded Compact.
“But I would be remiss if I said I
didn’t have these reservations.”
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