Etheridge Introduces Legislation to Aid Dairy Farmers

WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge (D-Lillington) joined several of his colleagues today to mark national Dairy Month by introducing the National Dairy Equity Act (NDEA), new legislation to aid dairy farmers across the country. In development for more than a year, the NDEA is a comprehensive plan that establishes a minimum price for fluid milk and creates a market-based safety net for dairy farmers during times of low milk prices.

"Over the past 20 years North Carolina has lost nearly three-quarters of its dairy farms, and most of the remaining producers are small family farms, not big milking operations. We need farm initiatives like NDEA to help family farmers deal with the fluctuations of the marketplace so they can plan effectively and earn a sufficient living in order to provide for their families. It will also provide consumers the security of a stable supply of affordable, local, fresh milk. This bill will not save every single dairy farmer in North Carolina, but it will give more of North Carolina's small dairy farmers an honest chance to survive in a business they love."

The NDEA is a national program that would stabilize milk prices, providing a safety net for farmers. It establishes Regional Dairy Marketing Areas (RDMA) in the Northeast, Southern, Midwest, Intermountain, and Pacific regions. In each of the five RDMAs, a Regional Dairy Board would be responsible for setting the minimum price for Class I (fluid) milk sold in that region, which farmers in the region would then approve.

Should the Class I price fall below the established minimum price, each region would receive market-based differential payments from a newly established national fund based on a set formula. In the event that the fund was to have a shortfall, the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture could supplement the payments with federal dollars to ensure that the Regional Boards, and subsequently the dairy farmers themselves, would receive the full payments.

The NDEA overcomes inter-regional objections to past, similar plans, because it creates regional equity and does not require the sharing or pooling of payout money between the regions.

The Regional Dairy Boards would be comprised of three members from each participating state in that region. Nominations to the Boards would be made by the Governor or elected Agriculture Commissioner of the state, in consultation with the state's agricultural industry, and would be appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture. Each state delegation would consist of at least one producer and one consumer. On top of establishing minimum prices and distributing payments to local dairy farms, the boards would have the authority to conduct supply management programs when necessary, including the development of incentive-based programs.