FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE/ JUNE 30, 2009

News Contact:  Maria Miller, 419.203.1739

Dairy Operations Facing Economic Disaster

OFU Urges Listening Sessions 

Ottawa (June 30, 2009) - Ohio Farmers Union President Roger Wise sent a letter late last week to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack urging him to organize listening sessions in Ohio to hear first hand from dairy producers the crisis their family farm operations face with the low price of milk and the high cost of inputs. 

“Ohio dairy farmers are facing the worst economic climate they have seen in years,” wrote Wise, a former dairyman. “With the costs of feed and fuel rising, and the price of milking dropping, many of our Ohio dairy farmers are confronting the difficult decisions of operating at a deficit in the hopes of better days to come, or ceasing operations and cutting their losses.”

Wise explained that Ohio dairy farmers are eager to discuss their ideas for augmenting the federal milk pricing formula and explain the disparity between the retail price of milk and the farmers’ profits. 

The National Farmers Union (NFU) earlier this month encouraged Congress to pass a dairy stimulus package as an immediate financial lifeline for America’s dairy producers. The NFU board expressed support for the concept of the Federal Milk Marketing Improvement Act of 2009, providing an adequate economic safety net and establishing an inventory management program.

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