The simmering trade war between the United States and Canada has one dairy co-op asking the U.S. Department of Agriculture for help. Agri-Mark, a dairy co-op with more than 500 members in New York and headquarters in Andover, Massachusetts, has sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Purdue, asking him to “use his […]
The simmering trade war between the United States and Canada has one dairy co-op asking the U.S. Department of Agriculture for help.
Agri-Mark, a dairy co-op with more than 500 members in New York and headquarters in Andover, Massachusetts, has sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Purdue, asking him to “use his authority to set minimum wholesale price floors for butter at $2.30 per pound, cheddar cheese at $1.64 per pound; and nonfat dry milk at 81 cents per pound,” according to a release.
The problem is rooted in Canadian rules that make it difficult for value-added dairy products to be exported to Canada, according to Agri-Mark spokesman Doug DiMento. He says most exports to Canada by the co-op’s members are lower priced ingredients, not finished dairy products.
The request to Purdue comes as dairy prices have collapsed, the co-op said. Neal Rea, a dairy farmer in Cambridge, in Washington County, who is the co-op’s chairman, explained the collapse came just when it looked like dairy farmers were getting a break.
“After more than three years of extremely low income, farm milk prices were finally rising earlier this month (June) with strong cheese, butter and nonfat dry milk market prices. When tariffs were announced, prices collapsed overnight,” he said in the release.
The price floors requested are lower than the prices reached in June. However, they are above the prices Agri-Marks projects for the coming months.
Robert Wellington, an economist for the co-op, said the U.S. dairy industry has been exporting about 18 percent of all production and that Canada and Mexico are among the top five buyers of U.S. dairy products.
DiMento says Canada’s rules discourage the import of milk and cheese from New York or anywhere in the U.S., leaving Canadian consumers paying more. Sometimes, he says, they cross the border to buy dairy goods at lower prices.
“There would be more free trade if Canada’s dairy system was more open,” he says.
Agri-Mark is inviting leaders of dairy co-ops around the nation to a summit in Albany, in August, says DiMento.
“Various milk supply influencing programs have been attempted in the past but none has had a sustained impact on farm milk prices.” Agri-Mark explains on its website. “Are there additional programs that could work or have circumstances changed sufficiently that previous programs may show more positive results?”
The website continues: “We need to gather all segments of the dairy industry together to discuss this problem and seek a solution that will work for dairy farmers and the marketplace.”
DiMento says the idea is to create “some sort of supply incentive or disincentive — although not as drastic as the Canadian system.”
