In late April, dairy industry leaders called for the Senate Agriculture Committee to remove a new dairy program that is designed to control milk prices from the draft 2012 Farm Bill and instead focus on providing proven safety-net programs, such as revenue insurance, typically used for other commodities.

Miriam Erickson Brown, president and CEO of Anderson Erickson Dairy; Jon Davis, president and CEO of Davisco Foods International; and David Ahlem, vice president of dairy procurement and policy for Hilmar Cheese Co.; held a press briefing on April 24 before heading to Capitol Hill for scheduled meetings with committee members.

The dairy leaders join the International Dairy Foods Association in opposing the milk supply management program, called Dairy Market Stabilization, included in Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow’s (D-MI) mark of the 2012 Farm Bill, released on April 20. They believe this program, first introduced in H.R. 3062, the Dairy Security Act, by Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN), will raise consumer prices, hurt exports, cost thousands of new jobs and stifle investments in new facilities.

“This proposed plan will create a chain of events which will limit the milk supply for dairies like AE and result in higher milk prices for consumers,” Erickson Brown said.

Listen to an audio recording of the event at  www.idfa.org.

— Contributed by the International Dairy Foods Association.