|
[ Home ] [ Leadership ] [ About Bill ] [ News ] [ Positions ] [ Chuck ]
Agriculture
Alpha Gamma Rho National Convention
Burlington, Vermont
July 30, 2012
The Politics of Plenty
Progress of any kind, requires people with a positive attitude, such as
yourselves. key to our continued success as a nation is our collective
response to three topics of concern, 1'st) the need for nutrition, 2nd)
demand for energy, and 3rd) environmental stewardship....
Read more
Dairy Bill
Status Report
I am writing to request your consideration and support, and to implement the
management tools necessary to prevent the next crisis, which is slated for
2012 if we choose to continue this three year cycle of boom and bust. This
devastation can likely be avoided if we prepare ourselves. During 2009 there was little argument as markets began to
recede, the producer sector found itself relying on tools and
policy that proved incapable of correcting a problem ...
Read more
Farm Bill hopes dwindling
ST. ALBANS — Franklin County farmers
are especially invested in the 2012 Farm Bill, as it was their work which
helped to create programs intended to ease the three-year price cycle for
milk
However, Republicans in the House of
Representatives have steered clear of the new Farm Bill and also backed away
from a recently proposed extension of the 2008 Farm Bill.
Read more
Letter to
Colin Peterson
Dear Mr. Peterson
First of all,
thank you for your time and effort working to improve national dairy policy.
The attached document outlines four proposed amendments to the discussion
draft you and Mr. Simpson are working to move forward. The recommendations
for amendment represent the unanimous support of the Board of Directors of
the National Dairy Producers Organization Inc. In keeping with our
commitment to help dairy producers achieve and maintain profitability,.....Read
more
DMSP Trigger Points
First Change
Establish the trigger point margin (difference between the all milk price
and the national average feed cost) as being equal to the national average
feed cost. DMSP would be activated when the margin falls below the national
average feed cost....
Read more
A Life Cycle In Dairy
Years ago my father told
me that farmers were special people, I understood that being the first to
rise and last to retire while accounting for detail throughout the night was
more of an obligation than an effort, and I understood these people were
driven by instinct and not compelled by duty.
Today, with full plates before us, we have an opinion about what others
should do, or should have done to improve economics in the rural community
across America.....
Read more
International Congress of Milk Producing Nations
I will begin by expressing my
gratitude to our friends from Argentina for demonstrating leadership in the
dairy industry, for their careful attention to detail in organizing the Congreso
Internacional de Productores de Leche (CIPLE) , and for their
kind hospitality and friendship. This International Congress of Milk Producers was convened in
Argentina in the City of Villa Maria, Cordoba, September 19,
2011, the two day program was repeated in Sunchales, Santa Fe, a
region some 300 km distant, and concluded there on September 23'rd. In
attendance were a total of 16 countries....
Read more
Genex
During
the downturn of 2006, we watched trailer loads of milk leave our farm well
below what was considered fair market value, the next crisis had already
been predicted for 2009, and it was to be followed by yet another sometime
during 2012, so on and so forth; we recognized our lack of control over the
situation then, and its similarity to the 50's and 60's on our Dad's farm.
We agreed that change in national dairy policy would have to take place one
day soon and finally recognize the producer as being key to a viable dairy
industry, that it would be necessary to develop management tools to address
the needs of the producer, and that allowing industry partners to speak for
producers all these years had been an apparent oversight on our part, the
producer community.
Read more
Allow the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit to Expire
The undersigned diverse group of
business associations, taxpayer advocates, hunger and development
organizations, agricultural groups, free-market groups, religious
organizations, environmental groups, budget hawks, and public interest
organizations urge you to allow the refundable Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax
Credit (VEETC) to sunset this year and to resist calls for spending on
infrastructure for conventional biofuels. The tax credit is already set to
expire on December 31, 2011, and should not be renewed.
Read more
A Unified National
Response as Dairy Producers
The National Dairy Producers Organization Inc. is a 501 c3 not
for profit corporation formed in compliance with Delaware state
law, the organization came to exist legally on November 19,
2010. We
established a Board of Directors from the organizing committee
and then elected corporate officers. Our
attorney is Mr. Fred Fielding who served as General Counsel for
three U.S. Presidents, and whose offices are located on
Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington, D.C. Membership consists of
voting members and associate members, voting members must either
be a current or retired dairy farmer; associate members are
typically those whose livelihood depends on the milk check such
as vendors, which account for much of our rural infrastructure
across the nation. Anyone can join the organization as an
associate member
Read more
USDA/US DOJ Dairy Workshop
Planting our crops is a great effort and expense, planning, preparing, and
then waiting for favorable conditions. Positive results are essential to our
livelihood and the decision to proceed usually comes down to common sense
and gut instinct, conditions have to be just right, waiting is difficult and
time is money.
Since 1970, we have seen the number of dairy farms in this country drop from
648,000 to the 54,000 remaining today. We have seen the consolidation of a
number of small farms result in 1 large farm.
Read more
The Producer's Voice
We
rely on history in our search to move forward, it recounts lessons of our
success and failure and is littered with the many experiments, which put us
here today. Some of the problems we face today result from yesterday's
solutions and literally glare at us waiting for a response in order to move
forward, a lack of response confines us to facing the result of our current
dilemma in a repetitive cycle of crisis after crisis.
Read more
Dairy Solution Requires Balance
US dairy farms will produce 190 billion lbs of milk this year exceeding
current demand by 4%,
market response to this national
oversupply has taken the price of milk per cwt from last year's high of
$23.50 to its present low of $10.50 the
farmers' cost of production is $17.50 cwt.
In their struggle to survive
deplorable economic conditions over the past 6 months, dairy farmers across
the nation have converted a lifetime of accumulated equity into $4.5 billion
worth of loans. Included in this struggle are businesses within our
communities which represent the infrastructure of rural America and
characterize Vermont. Read more
U.S. Senate Judiciary
Hearing on Dairy Pricing
The U.S. Senate Judiciary
Committee conducted a hearing on Dairy Pricing in St. Albans Vermont during
September of 2009. I was honored to be asked to present testimony.
Read more
or
Select this link to view
the testimony.
Farmers Need to Take Charge
On Monday, October 6, Alltech, a world supplier of products which enhance
animal nutrition and health, hosted The Global 500 Dairy Expo. The event was
a gathering of dairy farmers and industry representatives from 30 countries
around the world, over 400 people were in attendance. To read about the
Read more
U.S. Senate Agricultural Committee Field
Hearing
On March 12, 2007 the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture held a field
hearing on the 2007 Farm Bill, in Montpelier, Vermont.
I was asked to give testimony for the
Vermont Farm community. Read more
Land Conversions
Today we recognize the importance of environmental
stewardship as never before. Our common goal: To protect our natural
resources. It is of critical importance that we proceed with rules designed
to address our environmental needs but perhaps of greater importance, to put
things in a context which effectively meet the needs of everyone involved.
Read
more
Supply Management Tools
Desperate to eliminate a milk surplus of nearly 4%, dairy farmers now
recognize their lack of control over the market and face reality with only
two options, either produce milk or go out of business. Dairymen operating
well below their cost of production recognize the current surplus has cut
their milk check in half. Three months ago the dairy industry questioned
national acceptance of a supply management program, today dairymen expect
one. Read more
National Consensus
The Northeast Dairy Summit held on March 20, 2009 in Burlington, Vermont
organized by Dairy Farmers Working Together (DFWT) gathered 250 industry
leaders from across the nation. Farmers are becoming aware that consensus on
otherwise divisive issues, which have held the dairy industry captive for
many years, would allow political leadership to move forward with a long
overdue national effort. Read
more
How Do you Stop a Crisis?
While it is recognized that markets fluctuate, our need for a milk market
finds us producing for some that are volatile. Last year's export market of
nearly 11% quickly disappeared causing an over supply of milk which invited
our current situation. We need to identify stable markets for our product,
manage our supply to meet demand, and discourage a market surplus through
price. Read more
|