Boccieri Joins Bipartisan Members Of Congress To Announce Launch Of Congressional Dairy Farmers Caucus

Press Release

Dairy farmers across the nation found a new voice in Washington as the Congressional Dairy Farmers Caucus was officially announced during a press conference this week in the United States Capitol. The bipartisan Caucus, including U.S. Representative John Boccieri (D-Alliance) and more than fifty founding members declared the critical issues confronting the American dairy farmer will not go unheard in Congress.

"The Congressional Dairy Caucus is an important pipeline for dairy farmers in our district to express industry concerns, and help form solutions addressing the dairy crisis," said Boccieri. "This is not about Democrat or Republican dairy farms. It's about fighting to preserve all American dairy farms. In states like Ohio where agriculture remains the number one industry, our farmers-including dairy farmers-are critical to the process of rebuilding our economy."

Stanley Carmony is a fourth generation Wayne County Dairy Farmer. His family has been milking cows for nearly 115 years. Carmony said the Congressional Dairy Caucus will fight for farmers who've been working to make our country strong for generations. "This is about family farms-we are the backbone of America-we built America. We built this country on hard work and without the American farmer, this country is going to be in a world of hurt."

In total, the 16th Congressional District is home to 725 dairy farms with total annual sales in 2007 of more than $174 million. Wayne County, the largest dairy producing county in the state of Ohio, has nearly 425 dairy farms with total yearly sales of more than $113 million. Ashland County is another agriculturally rich area of the state and has nearly 155 dairy farms with annual sales of more than $19 million.

Co-Chair of the Congressional Dairy Caucus, Representative Joe Courtney (D-CT), said, "Dairy farmers are suffering a rapid and devastating economic collapse as the cost of milk production continues to rise and prices plummet. We must reevaluate the current dairy support system and examine the changes that must be advocated at the federal level. Local dairy farms are an important part of our communities' heritage and we must provide the appropriate assistance they need so they may continue to be a part of the future."

Dairy farmers are vitally important to our nation's economy and play a dynamic role within communities across the country. There are nearly 70,000 dairy farms nationwide, approximately 99 percent of which are family-owned. These dairy farmers produce more than 170 billion pounds of milk annually and contribute tens of billions of dollars to the U.S. economy every year. Unfortunately, the difficult economy of the past 12 months had a significant impact on the dairy industry nationwide. As of June 2009 prices on average have dropped more than $16.00 per hundredweight, dramatically below the cost of production.

Jerry Kozak, President and CEO of the National Milk Producers Federation, said, "The complexities of dairy policy, and the diverse size and scope of dairy farming in the U.S., means that we need a forum in Congress for dairy farmers to interact with their elected officials. The congressional Dairy Farmer Caucus will help facilitate the communication between, and education of, members of Congress and the farmers they represent."

The Congressional Dairy Caucus was created during the 110th Congress in advance of the most recent Farm Bill but was not reauthorized at the beginning of the 111th Congress. The Caucus will serve as a mechanism to educate members and their staff on issues of concern to the dairy industry while also serving as a means to build consensus on legislation impacting the dairy industry. Additionally, the Caucus will work with industry leaders, dairy economists, and most importantly, farmers and distributors to reach common sense bipartisan solutions to address the current dairy crisis.

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