Help Protect Dairy Farmers

Thanks to industry manipulations and increased importing of foreign milk protein concentrates, small U.S. dairy farmers are in serious trouble. The price they’re being paid for milk has dropped more than 50 percent since December 2008 – the worst decrease since The Great Depression.

Banks across the country have also been denying farmers access to credit. If this continues, it could destroy the livelihood of over 20,000 farmers by the end of the year – one third of the nationwide total.

You can help: join the many others who are asking that Secretary Tom Vilsack, head of the United States Department of Agriculture, adjust the price of milk paid to farmers to "reflect the price of production." He can do this by invoking his authority under Section 608c (18) of the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937. This legally mandated "floor price" should be at least $17.50 per cwt (a cwt is the standard measure for milk producers).