WASHINGTON – Today, Rep. Michael Arcuri (D-NY) and Rep. Chris Lee (R-NY) introduced legislation (H.R. 4117) to eliminate all hauling costs for milk producers in an effort to protect dairy farmers from paying unfair fees to milk processors. Arcuri and Lee introduced this legislation to alleviate the financial crisis that many local, Western New York dairy farmers have suffered over the past year due to low milk prices.
“Helping Upstate New York dairy farmers get the assistance they need is critical for the economic success of the dairy industry and New York State as a whole,” Arcuri said. “This legislation will cut costs for dairy farmers and move towards a short-term recovery in the dairy industry, as well as a longer-term solution to help producers save money from production costs. I am committed to doing as much as possible for our dairy farmers, and I will continue to work with them across Upstate New York in order to solve this crisis.”
“New York’s dairy farmers have been especially hit hard with the economic downturn,” said Lee. “Decreasing milk prices combined with rising feed and fuel costs make it impossible for even the most experienced farmers to make ends meet. It is fundamentally unfair for farmers to continue paying costs on product that is no longer in their possession.”
Currently, dairy producers must pay processors for any transportation-related costs incurred after a milk producer’s raw milk leaves the farm operation and is transported to a milk plant, receiving station, or transfer station. This legislation would eliminate the burden of hauling fees, stop fees, fuel surcharges, and other related fees for farmers. This bill also clarifies that ownership of milk is transferred from the milk producer to the processor when it leaves the milk producer’s facility. Producers have traditionally argued that they lose ownership over their milk once it is co-mingled with other product in the milk truck.“The dairy farmer’s share of the dollar consumers spend on dairy has dropped to a very low point,” said LeRoy dairy farmer Dale Stein of Stein Farms and a member of Congressman Lee’s Agriculture Advisory Board. “Processors have seen record profits this year while dairy farmers have seen record losses. Hauling fees have cost my farm about $70,000 this year alone, coming at a time when costs of production are as high as they’ve ever been.”
Lee is the Vice Chair of the House Dairy Farmers Caucus. Both Lee and Arcuri pushed for $350 billion in assistance for the dairy industry in legislation signed into law by President on October 21, 2009. Prior to the bill’s passage, the lawmakers joined several of their colleagues in sending a letter to the House Appropriations Committee requesting that the additional $350 million to assist dairy farmers nationwide be added to the Fiscal Year 2010 Agriculture Appropriations Bill. The $350 million included in the Fiscal Year 2010 Agriculture Appropriations bill has $290 million in direct support to dairy farmers and $60 million would be used to purchase cheese and other dairy products for food banks and nutrition programs, spurring prices for raw dairy products by drawing down supply on the market.
During his first weeks in office, Lee established a Agriculture Advisory Board to develop solutions to protect and grow the Western New York farming community. The 26th District’s Agriculture Advisory Board is a talented and experienced group of agriculture leaders from throughout Western New York who provide expert advice and assist in developing solutions to protect and grow our farming community in these difficult economic times.
Visit http://chrislee.house.gov/familyfarms to learn more about the 26th District Agriculture Advisory Board and Congressman Lee’s efforts to support struggling dairy farmers.