Senator Sherrod Brown Calls on USDA to Expand Support for Dairy Farmers

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In Letter to Agriculture Secretary Vilsack, Brown Urges Department Listening Session on Challenges Faced by Ohio’s Dairy Farmers

June 5, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), today wrote to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack regarding challenges faced by dairy farmers in Ohio and across the country.

“Our nation’s dairy industry is in jeopardy,” Brown wrote in his letter to Vilsack. “If nothing is done to address the profitability of our nation’s dairy farms, I am concerned that a staggering number of them will be forced to shut down. The loss of dairy farms would harm thousands of rural communities where agriculture and dairy are the primary sources of income.”

With more than 3,000 dairy farms, Ohio’s dairy and food processing industries are critical sectors in the state’s agricultural economy. Brown cited declining milk prices coupled with high operating costs as key problems threatening the profitability of the dairy industry.

“I urge you to hold a listening session as soon as possible in Ohio on the price of milk, the cost of feed and inputs, as well as overall health of the dairy system. This will allow legislators and the Department to gain insight into the problems that dairy farmers and professionals are facing, so that we may properly address the situation,” Brown wrote. The full contents of the letter can be found HERE.

Brown is the first Ohioan to serve on the Senate Agriculture Committee in over 40 years.

Source: Senator Sherrod Brown