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Congressman Tom Petri shared concerns Thursday about New Zealand imports and other issues at a meeting of the Congressional Dairy Farmers Caucus.
Petri explained later that the caucus is a clearinghouse for members of the House of Representatives who have an interest in the dairy industry and who represent producers. It meets regularly to exchange ideas and reactions, and to find ways to get its concerns heard.
"We are joining together, as an example, in a letter to our trade representative, Ron Kirk, to express concerns about upcoming negotiations to eliminate trade barriers in the Pacific, and how it might affect U.S. imports of dairy products from New Zealand, which is the low-cost producer in the world," he explained.
"Sometimes a small swing in production, or supply in this case, can cause a big swing in price. And that's something we've seen the last year or so. It has been a tough time in the dairy industry for an awful lot of producers who have had to operate with income below their cost of production. It's starting to even out a little, but things are still pretty tough in Dairyland."
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The full text of Petri's comments after the meeting follow:
"The Dairy Caucus is basically a clearinghouse for members of the House of Representatives who have an interest in dairy and represent producers. It meets regularly, and people exchange ideas and reactions - how things are going in their parts of the country.
"It's also a chance to express our concerns or to bring a group of people together. One voice sometimes can make a difference, but 10 or 20 voices - and this caucus is, I think, over 40 members of the House now - are even more effective.
"We are joining together, as an example, in a letter to our trade representative, Ron Kirk, to express concerns about upcoming negotiations to eliminate trade barriers in the Pacific, and how it might affect U.S. imports of dairy products from New Zealand, which is the low-cost producer in the world.
"Sometimes a small swing in production, or supply in this case, can cause a big swing in price. And that's something we've seen the last year or so. It has been a tough time in the dairy industry for an awful lot of producers who have had to operate with income below their cost of production. It's starting to even out a little, but things are still pretty tough in Dairyland."
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