Agriculture, Rural Development, Food And Drug Administration, And Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. SANDERS. Madam President, I thank the Senator and applaud his strong efforts in fighting for health care for all Americans. I want to take a few minutes right now to touch on an issue that in fact has not gotten a lot of discussion here in Congress and that is that family-based dairy agriculture is on the verge of collapse. This is not a regional issue, this is a national issue. From the east coast to the west coast, what we are seeing is prices plummeting for dairy farmers way below the cost of production. If Congress does not act, all over America rural communities are going to be suffering economically. People are going to be losing their jobs. The American people increasingly will not be able to obtain fresh locally produced food.

As we talk about stimulus, as we talk about trying to revive this economy, let's remember rural America and let's remember the dairy farmers throughout this country who are producing an important part of the food we consume. At this moment, dairy farmers across the country are suffering from the lowest milk prices in four decades. Let me repeat that. Dairy farmers across the country are suffering from the lowest milk prices in four decades.

In the last year, the price farmers receive for their milk has plummeted 41 percent, to $11.30 per hundredweight. To understand how low $11.30 per hundredweight is, you must understand it takes $17 or $18 to produce a hundredweight of milk. In other words, for every cow that is milked, the farmer is losing a substantial amount of money.

As a result of these low prices, many family farms have gone out of business and, if we do not act immediately, you are going to see many more, from one end of this country to the other, close up. I can tell you in the State of Vermont there was a lot of publicity surrounding a farm in the southern part of our State that had been in one family since the Revolutionary War--since the Revolutionary War. But because of these horrendously low milk prices, that farm has gone up for sale.

This is not just an issue for dairy farmers. This is not just an issue for rural communities. This is an issue for every American who wants to gain access to good quality, locally produced food.

All over this country people are saying no, I don't want my food coming in from China, I don't want my food coming in from places all over the world. I want to see the quality food that is produced in my area, in my State, in my region. If we do not act to protect family-based dairy agriculture, we are going to increasingly lose that opportunity.

Let me underline this. I know the people familiar with dairy always say these are great regional fights, the Northeast is fighting the Midwest is fighting the Southeast is fighting the west coast, and every region has its own set of priorities.

This is not a regional issue, this is a national issue. Let me talk a little bit about what is happening, briefly, in various regions around the country. California Farmers Union President Joaquin Contente spoke about the situation in his State of California. He testified:

In my lifelong history as a dairy farmer, I have never seen prices this far below our cost for this long and I have never seen so many dairy producers so desperate for relief. In my county alone--

This is in California, not Vermont.

In my county alone, 25 dairies have either filed or are in the process of filing for bankruptcy and many more are closer to bankruptcy each day.

Joaquin Contente, California Farmers Union president.

Let me talk about Texas, the Southwest. The executive director of the Texas Association of Dairymen spoke about the situation in his State of Texas. He said:

This is the worst situation I have seen since 1970. Some say it is the worst since the depression.

That is the State of Texas. Let me talk about the Midwest, Wisconsin. A Stanley, WI dairy farmer stated:

In my area, farmers are burning up their equity accumulated over their lifetimes. One farmer in my area had to cash out his wife's IRA just to get crops planted this spring. My parish priest in my small town has had to counsel one or more dairy farmers a week to prevent their suicides. And we know of reports across the country of farm suicides that have already occurred.

These are just a few examples from California and Texas. I can go on and on about what is going on in California and the Northeast.

Last week, after Congress's strong urging, Secretary Vilsack announced that the government would spend $243 million to raise price supports for dairy farmers, and we very much appreciate the Secretary and the Obama administration's quick response to our needs. That support is important. It is likely to raise milk price supports by about $1.25 per hundredweight, but that is nowhere near enough of what we need when in fact cost of production is $17 or $18 per hundredweight.

This afternoon I will be offering legislation cosponsored by you, Senator Gillibrand, cosponsored by Senator Schumer, Senator Tom Udall, Senator Specter, and Senator JEANNE SHAHEEN, among others. This amendment will go a long way to help farmers over the short-term crisis.

Long term, obviously we need to do some fundamental rethinking about dairy agriculture, how you bring long-term stability to the dairy industry and end that volatility that has been rampant in that industry for so many years. There are so many ideas out there about how we bring long-term stability for dairy farmers in this country. This is short-term relief to make sure farmers all over this country do not go out of business. What this amendment would do is provide the Secretary of Agriculture with $350 million in additional funding for milk price supports. That would, again, bring the price up about another $1.50 per hundredweight. This short-term help could mean the difference between economic viability or financial disaster for dairy farmers from one end of this country to the other.

Once again, all of us are focused on how we get out of this deep recession. All of us are focused on how we create decent-paying jobs. I urge my colleagues, do not forget about rural America. Rural America, whether it is Vermont, Wisconsin, California, Colorado--rural America is hurting. They need help as well.

Later on this afternoon I will be bringing forth this very important amendment to provide some economic support for rural America and hope to have the support of all my colleagues.

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