BY CANDACE WAGNER
LANCASTER, Pennsylvania - Fifteen dairy farmers listened in
growing disbelief as a representative of the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) explained the proposed overhaul of the 60-
year-old federal wholesale milk pricing system at a June 3
meeting here.
In a presentation complete with charts and graphs, the USDA representative calmly explained that with the proposed changes guaranteed milk prices will decline substantially in the Lancaster area.
As he described the complicated monthly procedure for calculating the minimum milk price, an Amish farmer spoke up. "Couldn't you put something in there for the farmer?" Daniel Dienner asked. Dienner has a herd of 45 cattle in Gap, Pennsylvania.
"This is going to devastate us," another farmer exclaimed.
The USDA representative explained that while prices would decline in this area because of the large number of farmers, they would rise in other areas of the country. "It will all even out, you see." The changes are designed to direct milk flow toward markets where fewer farms exist, he said.
The new program will go into effect October 1, if approved in a referendum of farm cooperatives and some individual farmers.
The meeting was one of many being held in areas across the United States covered by federal dairy pricing regulations.
At an earlier meeting in Woodstown, New Jersey, a farmer demanded, "Tell me one other business in this so-called market system where the owner can't set a price of production to cover his costs."
The USDA representative responded, "A lot of you are going to fail."
After the Lancaster meeting, Dienner and other Amish farmers spoke with Militant reporters. "Why are there so few farmers here out of the 1,500 that will be affected in this area?" the reporters asked.
"I think most feel that it wouldn't make any difference if they came," Dienner answered. "After listening to this guy I might agree."
Pete Seidman and John Staggs contributed to this article.