The Vermont Milk Commission issued its report to the Vermont Congressional Delegation, Legislature and the public in January 2019 based on work throughout 2018 on supply management and activities to support the dairy industry in the state.
The Milk Commission endorses a program to equalize the supply and demand of milk to stabilize milk volumes at the national level and stabilize milk prices. The Commission concluded that the continued unabated growth in milk production across the nation is causing an extreme imbalance in milk volume as compared to domestic commercial disappearance and exports of dairy products which depress milk prices paid to farmers.
The Commission recommends a Growth Management Plan that would incorporate many detailed rules and regulations but would need to include the following subject areas:
- A dairy farmer governance board working in conjunction with USDA. The National Dairy Board model could be used for farmer representation with the addition of dairy economist and two dairy processors.
- Determination of a base milk volume for individual producers
- Determination of the volume of milk required to meet domestic and export needs as well as a 30-day emergency stock of dairy products, nationally, regionally and to the individual dairy farmer
- A means to provide strong signals to individual dairy farmers that milk over the required domestic and export volume and emergency stock is not desired
- A means for new dairy farmers to join family operations and or start new individual dairy farms.
- Detailed rules and regulations for the merging of dairy farming operations, the dissolution of farm partnerships and other changes in business structures
The specific recommendations for a Growth Management Plan include:
- Implementation at a national level and must be mandatory for all dairy producers to take part.
- An administrative fee for all dairy farmers and a flat rate is supported.
Managing milk volume growth to meet both domestic and export needs and to supply a 30-day emergency stock of dairy products is the goal of the Growth Management Plan. To manage the growth of the United States milk supply to better align the volume of milk with demand, all dairy producers will need to be actively involved in the program. An equitable program must be established for all dairy producers regardless of farm location, farm size and or business structure. The alignment of milk volume with need would reduce volatility and provide stabilization of milk prices. For these reasons, the Milk Commission endorses a program to equalize the supply and demand which will manage milk volumes at the national level and stabilize milk prices for all dairy farmers.
For an Example of the Milk Commission Growth Management plan, view the webinar at
On You Tube: https://youtu.be/lcQ1Xg9QH0U
Also embedded on our website: https://agriculture.vermont.gov/milk-commission
Sign the petition to support this plan at https://bit.ly/2VdTAyN
Questions and Comments – contact Diane.bothfeld@vermont.gov