WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senators Herb Kohl (D-WI), Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) are spearheading a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack today to urge him to increase purchase prices under the Dairy Price Support program. The text of the Senators' letter to Secretary Vilsack, who is currently considering modifications to the Dairy Product Price Support Program as a means of addressing acute problems in dairy markets, is included below.

July 16, 2009 

The Honorable Thomas Vilsack

Secretary of Agriculture

U.S. Department of Agriculture

1400 Independence Ave., S.W.

Washington, DC 20250 

Dear Secretary Vilsack, 

We are writing to request your immediate attention to the current crisis in the dairy sector.  

As you know, America's dairy producers are facing the worst prices in nearly 30 years. Dairy farmers from every region of the country are losing money each month which is jeopardizing the long term stability of the industry and the livelihood of thousands of our rural communities. We appreciate your actions to implement the Dairy Export Incentives Program and your recent comments supporting additional lending opportunities for dairy producers. Despite those welcome actions, we believe more aggressive action is needed to halt the current crisis.  

As you know, Congress in Section 1501 of the enacted 2008 Farm Bill (P.L. 110-246) updated the Dairy Price Support program to set price floors under individual dairy products (butter, cheese and non-fat dry milk.) While specific prices at which USDA is mandated to purchase product were included in the legislation, Congress clearly gave the Department the authority to increase the purchase prices if necessary. We are therefore urging you to temporarily increase the Dairy Price Support program products purchases by a significant level to restore a meaningful safety net for America's dairy farmers. 

We believe bold and swift action to increase the purchase prices under the Dairy Price Support program is needed to avert a further crisis. During January through April this year, the U.S. all-milk price has averaged $4.80 per cwt. below the U.S. average cash cost of production. And in the months since, dairy farmers have continued to lose significant equity. A meaningful but temporary increase the Dairy Price Support program will begin to restore farm level prices and help restore producer's ability to cash flow their operations during these difficult financial times. 

Thank you for your immediate attention to this issue. We look forward to working with you to support America's dairy producers.  

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