By Brad Bryan, Correspondent
Country Today, 7/20/09
WEST SALEM - A Wisconsin farm policy research group may have gotten the acknowledgement it was looking for last week.
The La Farge-based Cornucopia Institute scheduled a milk dumping for 11 a.m. July 16, one hour before a town-hall meeting attended by U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
The group sought the USDA's acknowledgement of the crisis facing organic and conventional dairy farmers.
"We are all in this together," Mark Kastel of the Cornucopia Institute told a crowd of organic farmers and advocates.
Held during the La Crosse County Fair, the rally wasn't intended to be an ambush, Kastel said after a woman confronted Vilsack about the possibility of Rosendale Dairy being allowed to open an 8,000-cow farm in Fond du Lac County.
"We are trying to be your USDA," Vilsack said. "We are trying to make sure we are a USDA that does not cater to one aspect of agriculture over the other. We are trying to make sure smaller producers, mid-sized producers, do have a future."
At the meeting - which was part of the Obama administration's Rural Tour - Vilsack said trying to choose between large-scale agriculture and small- to mid-sized operations is like trying to choose a favorite between two sons.
An attendee asked if the USDA would begin prosecuting mega dairies that willfully violate organic standards.
"I commit to you that we will indeed enforce the rule," Vilsack said.
The secretary attempted to reassure farmers that the USDA was on their side.
"I would never, ever suggest to you that I completely understand the stresses and strains that you all are under, but I do have some sense of it," Vilsack said.
Organic dairy farmer Bruce Drinkman didn't like what he heard from Vilsack.
Drinkman, who milks 50 cows near Glenwood City, told the crowd his wife recently cashed in their individual retirement account to help keep the family operation afloat.
A fourth-generation farmer, Drinkman said he doubts any of his children will carry on the family tradition.
"I just don't see any future in it," he said.
Drinkman said it's too early to tell if the USDA will follow through on any the secretary's promises, but he hopes help doesn't arrive too late.
"All I can do is hope for the best. I've never been a quitter in anything," Drinkman said.
Vilsack spoke about the Obama administration's commitment to improving life for rural Americans. He talked about expanding broadband access to rural areas, creating new sources of income for farmers, investing in conservation, increasing ag exports and business opportunities in climate change.
"Clearly what we've been doing for the last 20 or 30 years hasn't been working because we've seen a decline in population in rural communities," he said. "We need to do a better job."
He said between increased Milk Income Loss Contract payments and increased price-support purchases, the USDA will spend about $1 billion in stimulus funds attempting to stabilize dairy prices.
Vilsack said the USDA is working to increase MILC payments, stabilize milk prices, increase Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, reorganize Farm Service Agency loans to farmers and level the playing field for small- and medium-sized organic dairy farms.
"(Vilsack) is taking (the crisis) for real," said Rod Nilsestuen, secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. "It's obvious that (the USDA) recognizes that milk prices are half of what they were a year ago and that many farmers in Wisconsin are losing over $100 a cow a month. It's just not sustainable."
Cornell dairy farmer Jan Morrow didn't think much of Vilsack's response to her plea to help dairy farmers.
"They're just words," Morrow said. She called on Vilsack to return the country to a method of milk pricing implemented decades ago.
"If you want to save me as a dairy farmer, go back to the 1937 Marketing Agreement Act and start paying farmers' cost of production, she said.
Morrow dumped 35,000 pounds of milk in May to protest low milk prices.
When asked about the abrupt departure of Wisconsin-native Doug Caruso as USDA Farm Service Agency administrator, who announced his resignation July 8, Vilsack said Caruso would have to explain.
"I really don't know why he left," Vilsack said. "We were focused on creating in the secretary's office some key goals, and I think Doug may have thought we should approach it differently."
Vilsack said "absolutely" that Caruso stepped down on his own accord.
