NFU Blog

An article in this morning’s Toledo Blade on retail dairy prices is the first of many stories sure to appear this spring and summer attempting to connect the retail level prices consumers pay for milk to the amount of money dairy producers receive.

If oil is “black gold,” milk may be the “other white gold” – not quite as valuable ounce for ounce as jewelry but getting quite expensive.

The true cause of retail dairy price increases is not a result of what dairy farmers receive, but rather processors and retailers mark ups. According to USDA, non-farm costs including marketing, processing, wholesaling, distribution and retailing account for 80 cents of every food dollar spent in the United States.

Take a look at NFU’s most recent Farmers Share – milk may be $3.49 at the store, but the dairy producer receives only $1.18.

Post your comments below to let us know what you think.

NFU is urging all producers to take action and contact their representatives in the U.S. House and urge their support for agricultural disaster assistance.

Click here to contact your representatives.

The House Appropriations committee yesterday announced a vote on emergency domestic supplemental funding, including agricultural disaster assistance, would occur this Friday, May 11. The package includes $3.5 billion in disaster assistance and a one month extension of the Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) program, among other provisions.

The disaster funding would assist producers who suffered crop and livestock losses from weather-related disasters during fiscal years 2005, 2006, and 2007. Eligible producers must select one year from which to receive the funding. Eligibility would be based on whether producers carried crop insurance during the selected year. The package provides assistance for farmers who lost 35 percent or more of their crop in one of the covered years and for livestock producers in counties that received a Secretarial or Agriculture Department disaster designation during the covered time.

Virtually every state across the country has suffered from significant weather related losses either in 2005, 2006 or 2007. Losses are a result of devastating hurricanes, fires, floods, frost/early-freezing, blizzards, severe drought and more.

The first paragraph in this morning’s CongressDaily AM says it all:

The early months of the 110th Congress have not seen a week like the one ahead, as both chambers will grapple with more significant issues and legislation at once than they have so far in this young session. 

That’s true for NFU this week as well. On Wednesday, Missouri Farmers Union President Russ Kremer will be testifying on rural communities’ access to broadband and Kansas Farmers Union President Donn Teske will be testifying on increased input costs.

Of course, that’s just the beginning of what’s on tap for this week. Check back often and visit nfu.org for all the latest National Farmers Union news.