A3B-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 5, 2003
Maryland & Virginia Cooperative Outlines Plan
DAVE LEFEVER
Lancaster Farming Staff
HAGERSTOWN, Md. Mar
yland & Virginia Milk Producers
Cooperative reported a good year
in 2002, despite low farm milk
prices and increasing consolida
tion in the industry.
The co-ops 83rd annual mem
bers meeting and luncheon/
banquet took place at the Hagers
town Clarion Conference Center
Wednesday, including award
presentations to quality milk pro
ducers and longtime members.
Maryland & Virginia last May
hired Jay Bryant as general man
ager to run the co-op after a
merger proposal with Land O’
Lakes and other cooperatives
failed.
Jack Hardesty, retiring presi
dent, said that the co-op solid
ified its operations in 2002, even
while milk prices hit historic
lows.
“We’ve grown stronger and
more unified,” Hardesty said. He
and Bryant outlined a business
strategy that included several
new developments.
The co-op broke ground last
July for a new fluid milk process
ing plant, Red Oak Dairy in Bax
ley Ga.; purchased Maola Milk
and Ice Cream plant, New Bern,
N.C.; and created the Southern
Marketing Agency (SMA) to ad
dress consolidation issues.
“We continue to see retail con
solidation drive the industry,”
Bryant said.
While the SMA has helped se
cure market access for Maryland
& Virginia members, Bryant said
much more needs to be done.
“We have a lot of room for im
provement,” he said. “I think we
can do a much better job balanc
ing our surplus.”
Balancing milk supplies has to
be a “larger regional
effort,” Bryant said. A
study is underway to
determine the future
balancing needs of the
region
Maryland & Virgin
ia is committed to
ownership and man
agement of manufac
turing plants, and to
leadership in develop
ing regional balancing
plants, according to
Bryant.
He spoke about the
sluggish milk market
including a slipping
Class I mover price,
down to $9.64 per
hundredweight in
April and ways the
co-op is trying to help
improve the dire situa
tion for dairy farmers.
Marva Maid, Mary
land & Virginia’s fluid
processing plant in
Newport News, Va.,
showed an increase in
milk sales and earn
ings in 2002. Bryant
acknowledged that
low farm milk prices
were a factor in the fa
cility’s successful year.
For dairy farmers,
relief from the market
slump doesn’t appear
forthcoming.
“We’ve seen de
mand for dairy prod
ucts for the last several
months remain rela
tively flat,” Bryant
said. “As you look out
over the horizon, you
really don’t see any
change.”
Bryant said Mary
land & Virginia is lob
bying Washington for
legislation that would
curb milk protein con
centrate (MFC) and
casein imports.
Co-Op Works With National Milk Producers To Address Low Prices
U.S. House and Senate Resolu
tions under consideration would
impose higher tariffs on imports
of these products. Bryant said the
resolutions so far have been co
signed by 76 House and 20 Sen
ate members.
Maryland and Virginia is also
working closely with the National
Milk Producers Federation
(NMPF) on an inititiative called
Cooperatives Working Together
(CWT).
The goal of CWT is to join to
gether cooperatives on a national
level that represent 70 percent of
the domestic milk supply in order
to “bring supply in line with de
mand,” Bryant said. He noted
that a 2.6 percent national in
crease in milk production in
2002, along with imports, has
helped created milk supplies that
are in excess of demand.
Jimmie and Matthew Eustace, center, were hon
ored for 75 years of membership in Maryland & Vir
ginia Milk Producers Cooperative. They are joined
by General Manager Jay Bryant, left, and Jack
Hardesty, president.
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CWT would depend on volun
tary co-op funding, and will con
sider extracting about 15 cents
per hundredweight from farmers
to help subsidize the plan.
“All of this is in the develop
ment stage,” Bryant said.
The group plans to develop a
strategy this month and begin
implementing it in May.
Members at the meeting
passed a resolution, introduced
by board member Richard Mose
mann, to support continuing pay
ments to dairy farmers under
USDA’s milk income loss con
tract (MILC) program imple
mented under last year’s Farm
Bill.
According to Mosemann, the
MILC program has benefited
Maryland & Virginia producers,
and has not increased milk sup
plies as some larger producers
have contended.
The Joe and Nona Schwartzbeck family received a
Quality Milk Producer Award from Maryland & Virginia co
op. From left are Jack Hardesty, president; Joe, Nona,
Gus, and Lisa Schwartzbeck; and Jay Bryant, general
manager.
MILC program benefits are
capped at the production level of
herds of about 130 cows.
The co-op named the family of
Joe and Nona Schwartzbeck,
Union Bridge, Md., Quality Pro
ducers of the Year for herds of
more than 150 cows in the Feder
al Order 1 area.
The Schwartzbeck’s Peace &
Plenty 325-cow herd tallied in
2002 an average somatic cell
count of 137,519, standard plate
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Involved fulltime on the dairy
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“This is a family business,” Joe
said. “Everybody participates,
and that really makes a differ-
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