Dairy Pricing Association (DPA), a Capper-Volstead cooperative based in Taylor, Wis., said it purchased $234,527.14 in 40-pound cheddar cheese blocks for distribution to Feeding America in Madison, Wis.; Catholic Charities in Alexandria, Va.; and Ruby’s Pantry in North Branch, Minn. The purchases equate to 28 loads of raw milk now removed from the market.

“Dairy Pricing Association has a history of providing dairy products to victims of natural disasters whenever possible, so we have asked Feeding America to target their load to those affected by Hurricane Florence near Raleigh, N.C.,” said Derek England, a Dairy Pricing Association advisory board member and a Missouri dairy farmer.

The motive behind these purchases is to create demand by disappearance while raising the price of block cheese, which generally correlates with class III milk prices, by asking a higher price per pound than what blocks are currently trading for publicly, DPA said.

DPA said it is also circulating a petition asking USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue to amend the Dairy Product Stabilization Act of 1983 to include a $0.02/hundredweight voluntary deduction from national checkoff funds to support DPA’s efforts to purchase more dairy products to feed families in need while stabilizing dairy markets.