(Continued from Page A 10)
graded to four-letter-word status
by a majority of those in power.
Both major political parties have
bowed before the sacred cow of
free trade and all recent adminis
trations have circled the globe,
shamelessly sacrificing American
jobs and squandering taxpayer
money in exchange for political
favors.
The Bush administration now
plans to pursue a free-trade
agreement with Australia and
New Zealand to reward them for
supporting the administration in
its effort against Iraq. Thousands
of U.S. dairy farmers and cattle
growers would be sacrificed in
this deal. Evidently this is what
Bush administration officials re
ally meant when they declared
The Paul Mueller Company and your
YLVANIA * Rufus Brubaker ★ Lyco Dairy Service
Refrigeration Cogan Station, PA
Manheim, Pa. 17545 ph : 570-494-0708
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Quarryville, Pa. 17566 * Fisher & Thompson
PH: 717-786-1617 Belleville. PA
~ OR PH:7I7-935-7422
* M . artin ’ s Refrigeration Myei - sUlwrii Pa 17067 MARYLAND
erv,ce „ _ irm PH: 717-933-4711
Fayetteville, Pa 17222
PH: 717-352-2783 Mifflmburg, PA
PENN!
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Service
Martmsburg, PA 16662
PH: 814,793-2783
: &»'■'^Vwr^' Vj<i^^
7* * . .# w * ...C. .»3:.~..^...~*-t...
Farm Forum ♦
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that Trade Promotion Authority
was essential in the war on terror.
What has the true cost been?
Cheap toys, trinkets, parts and
supplies become costly when they
do not last, not to mention the
frustration that they cause and
the landfill space that they take
up. Open borders have resulted in
an illegal immigration nightmare,
increased vulnerability to terror
ism, and increased drug traffick
ing. The controversial dairy pro
grams cost taxpayers billions of
dollars in spite of the fact that
domestic production has lagged
behind consumption for years.
Even so, farm milk prices are
at 1979 levels. Billions of con
sumer dollars have poured into
China, making possible a huge
military buildup in that country.
In fact, when a U.S. spy plane
Rejoice with us as we
celebrate the miracle of that
night so long ago and keep
close to your heart the
wonders of His birth.
PH:I-800-330-6639
was forced to land on Chinese
soil and was dismantled by the
Chinese, the U.S. simply looked
on in pathetic impotence because
we have become dependant on
the Chinese for a great host of
consumer goods.
Chapter 11 of NAFTA makes
a mockery of national sovereign
ty, democratic self-determi
nation, and due process. The
World Trade Organization oper
ates in secret and is controlled by
people who have no public ac
countability, yet our leaders bow
before them in unholy reverence.
As unsettling as this is, per
haps nothing hits closer to home
than the impact of globalism on
agriculture. In 1973, the “Agri
cultural Trade and the Proposed
Round of Multilateral Negotia
tions” outlined a plan to remove
tariffs and subsidies from agricul
tural products. The goal was to
force farmers into greater effi
ciency through global agricultur
al trade. The anticipated benefit
would be lower food cost, more
money for consumer goods, and
increased economic growth.
*
Farmers around the world are
reeling from the results of these
nd tbe angel said>
1 bring you good
tidings of great
Joy... (Jnto you is
born tbis day in tbe
city of f^)avicl
a who is
(Christ the Lord.
May the peace and joy of this
holiday season be in your heart now
and throughout the coming year.
★ Priests Refrigeration
Hagerstown. MD
21742
151*
PH: 301-797-3921
Regional Manager
PA, NY, New England
Robin Shirley
Hampton. NY
PH: 518-282-0040
★ MUELLER Star Dealers are committed
to using all Mueller replacement parts
and to continued training for up-to-date
equipment and technological changes.
trade policies which have result
ed in depressed farm prices,
while consumers pay more and
more for lower quality food. The
GAO report, “Food Safety-Feder
al Efforts to Ensure the Safety of
Imported Foods are Inconsistent
and Unreliable,” estimated the
cost of food bom illnesses to be
between $6.6 and $37 billion dol
lars annually. Millions of tons of
food pour into the U.S. every
year. Much of this is produced
under low or nonexistent sanitary
standards or contaminated with
pesticides or herbicides that have
long since been banned in the
U.S. or that were never legal
here. Very little is inspected, and
even the inspections that do take
place are often inadequate and
ineffective.
How can we put a price tag on
the loss of rural infrastructure? A
once prosperous and robust farm
economy has become weak and
anemic, kept on life support by
costly government subsidies,
which only repay a fraction of
what is stolen by consolidated ag
ribusiness facilitated by foolish
and damaging trade policy. Good
hard working and knowledgeable
Luke 2 10 11
Distributors:
Regional Manager
MD, DE, VA
Frank M. Bird Jr.
ILA, GA
PH: 706-789-3928
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 21,2002-A29
Editor.
Consumers are paying more for dairy products
and dairy farmers’ net income is down 50 per
cent, yet certain dairy processors are earning re
cord profits. This would lead one to wonder,
“Just who is getting milked?”
Dean Foods, the largest fluid milk processor in
the country, recently announced record earnings
for 2002. The processor attributed the increased
earnings to reduced raw milk costs, the synergy
of mergers, and the success of its specialty lines.
Meanwhile, at least two ice cream makers arc
admittedly skimping on the amount of ice cream
in a half-gallon container and scooping up profits
from the sales of new 1.75-quart containers, for
which they are charging the same price as the
conventional two-quart containers. Processors
and retailers cite rising ingredient costs for their
actions. The opposite is true.
The costs for butterfat and nonfat solids, the
main dairy ingredients in ice cream, have
dropped by one-third since January 2002. Prices
paid to farmers for their milk have dropped more
than 50 cents a gallon in some parts of the coun
try since that time. Nationally, U.S. dairy farm
ers will receive $4 billion less in milk receipts this
year than last.
At the same time, the administration is pro
posing additional changes in dairy programs that
would cost dairy farmers as much as $1 billion in
lost income. Additionally, the U.S. is seeking to
open borders even further to cheap dairy substi
tutes from Australia and New Zealand, further
flooding the U.S. market.
Consequently, dairy farmers are receiving the
lowest prices for their products since 1979 and
are continuing to go out of business at a record
pace. Unfortunately, economic projections pre
dict that dairy prices paid to farmers have little,
if any, chance of recovery in the coming months.
Manufacturers, on the other hand, are paying
only 50 cents for the dairy ingredients used in a
one-half gallon of ice cream. The retail price of
that same ice cream is about $5. And milk prices
paid by consumers have held steady or increased.
Recent surveys have shown that certain dairy
processors and supermarket chains may be earn
ing more than $1 a gallon in profits.
Dairy farmers are not against processors and
retailers having a successful year. However, a
farmers are being lost. Farm fam
ilies are in despair and stressed to
the max. A whole generation of
future farmers has no incentive
to pursue a career in production
agriculture.
All this in spite of nearly one
billion people around the world
that go to bed hungry every
night.
Elected officials have failed the
American people miserably by al
lowing this foolishness to go on
without even the slightest protest.
Land grant universities have con
tributed to the farmers’ demise
by withholding the truth and by
offering bad advice.
We are sliding down a slippery
slope. American agriculture is in
a state of collapse. If America
wishes to preserve an adequate
supply of domestically produced
food, we must act quickly and de
cisively to free ourselves from the
snare of global entanglement.
The family farm system of agri
culture that has served our na
tion so well must be preserved.
The cost of failing to do so will be
staggering indeed.
Gerald Carlin, dairy fanner
Meshoppen
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