WITH NATIONAL MILK CARTON SHORTAGE HITTING NY DAIRY FARMERS AND SCHOOLS, SCHUMER CALLS ON USDA TO INVESTIGATE, WORK WITH INDUSTRY LEADERS TO ADDRESS SHORTAGE -- AND MAKE SURE UPSTATE NY'S DAIRY FARMERS HAVE SUPPORT THEY NEED TO CONTINUE PROVIDING ESSENTIAL MILK TO SCHOOLS ACROSS NY AND AMERICA

Statement

"I write to urge United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) leadership to address and rectify the looming disruptions to the milk packaging supply chain, specifically related to milk carton shortages. While our dairy farmers are working hard to produce milk and our coops are striving to honor contracts with schools, nursing homes, and other important institutions, I'm concerned this disruption, if it is not swiftly addressed, could have negative impacts on our farmers, school and child nutrition programs, and children, seniors, and others who depend on milk for nutrition.

I have heard from schools across New York state that have been forced to alter their milk deliveries, reduce milk varieties served, purchase bulk milk to serve in plastic cups with lids, or purchase drink dispensers to continue meeting students' nutritional needs. While there is still plenty of milk for kids to drink, the milk carton shortage is expected to last several months and will continue disrupting schools' ability to adhere to federal nutrition standards.

New York State is home to more than 3,200 dairy farms and is the country's fifth largest dairy state, producing 15.66 billion pounds of milk in 2022. The dairy industry is a driver of significant economic impact in New York and is also a large part of the state's culture. It is vital that we protect this critical industry and ensure it has the support it needs to weather these disruptions until the supply chain recalibrates. Milk is an essential part of nutrition for our children and it is imperative we take every action possible to ensure they are able to continue to receive milk despite any potential disruptions.

The USDA is uniquely positioned to work with the dairy industry, our farmers, and schools to be able to address these shortages we are seeing nationwide and in New York. I strongly urge the USDA to work with dairy farmers and coops in New York, and the NYS Department of Agriculture & Markets, to find packaging alternatives, bring together industry partners to determine what immediate actions can be taken to mitigate the impacts of a shortage and find creative solutions so farmers have a market for their product and milk doesn't go to waste. I also urge the USDA to afford maximum flexibility to our dairy farmers and coops and conduct outreach to ensure our farmers have all the technical assistance needed to ensure they can continue to provide milk to customers during this challenging time.

In addition, given the potential downstream impacts of disruptions to the milk packaging supply chain I ask the USDA to investigate the causes of this carton shortage to determine how we can avoid further disruptions to our dairy farmers and any further steps we can be taking to mitigate problems of this nature in the future.

I applaud USDA's efforts thus far to provide schools with the guidance's to accommodate shifts in milk packaging availability. This issue demands swift attention and action and I stand ready to help USDA however possible in ensuring these shortages in the supply chain have a minimal impact on our schools, students and dairy farmers."

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