Dairy farmers are facing continued low prices here and nationally. In this state prices are as low as $9.46 per hundredweight, below the costs of production. Nearly one-third of those who were dairy farmers in the United States eight years ago are out of business today.

In an interview at the Montrose meeting, dairy farmer Richard Arnold explained, "When I started farming 30 years ago, my farm bordered eight other active dairy farms. When I shut down last year I was the last to stop milking."

The main speaker at the Montrose meeting was John Ikerd, a retired economics professor from the University of Missouri. Ikerd remarked that "the enemy [of the farmer] is the current economic system" and what's needed is to "fundamentally change the system in which food is grown and marketed...through a fundamental change in heart and philosophy." He argued that such a change has to start with individuals. As a solution, the professor suggested finding a specialized "niche" market, such as organically produced milk, to avoid competing in the mass production market.

Arden Tewksbury, a dairy farmer and farm activist from Meshoppen, targeted the processors and multinational corporations that buy and sell dairy products on the world market. "We need a fair price," Tewksbury said. "How can we get that when our share of the dairy dollar has fallen from 50 percent to 32 percent? We need something done in the next year or two, not in four or five years." Responding to the idea of niche markets, Tewksbury said, "That's good for some farmers. But could everyone in New York City come out here to buy their milk?"

Tewksbury and several others spoke in support of a bill before Congress, HR 50-52, known as the Fairness for Dairy Farmers Act. The bill is sponsored by Rep. Ronald Klink, who is running for U.S. Senate against incumbent Richard Santorum, author of a separate farm bill.

Speaking on a panel, Gerald Carlin, who has a dairy farm in Tunkhannock, said, "What farmers face now is the same as not having a minimum wage and other protections for workers." Carlin is the author of a bill being submitted to Congress called the National Dairy Farmers Security Act of 2000. The text of the bill points out that "the price of raw milk sent to market by dairy farmers has fallen to the levels received in 1978," while the "Consumer Price Index for dairy products has risen ...over 100% since 1978."

The measure calls for setting minimum prices based on the cost of production. It also calls for limits on imports of dairy products.

Panelist Ron Flatness, an agricultural implements dealer, stated, "The enemy is not the Canadian or European farmer. It's the multinational corporation." He also explained that organic farming can not feed the majority of people because they can't afford to buy such products.

In the discussion period, a number of members of the audience and panelists raised the specter of unsafe imported food. Several opposed the bill giving favored-nation status to China on the basis that it would only benefit agribusiness corporations.