Milk Pricing

NMPF Milk Pricing Actions

For information about the actions that NMPF is taking on behalf of the country’s dairy producers to help them get through the current economic crisis, please visit the NMPF Milk Pricing Actions webpage.

 

NMPF Teams with Feeding America to Encourage Cheese Purchases - October 21, 2009

In a joint letter to USDA's Tom Vilsack, NMPF and Feeding America asked for the Secretary's support for using the $60 million appropriated in FY 2010 Agriculture Appropriations by January 2010 to fund programs for purchases of processed cheeses, including American, cheddar, and mozzarella, among others, that can in turn be used to provide emergency food assistance to feed American families experiencing economic hardship. The purchases of cheese would also help dairy producers who were struggling with an economic crisis in their industry.

 

NMPF Urges Senate to Spend $350 Million Buying, Donating Cheese - September 10, 2009

In an effort to help both dairy farmers and needy Americans, NMPF urged congressional leaders to direct $350 million dollars toward the purchase of cheese, which would then be donated through food banks and other charities to help feed the hungry.

In a letter sent September 9, 2009 to Senate and House appropriators, NMPF said that a $350 million amendment offered in August by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to an agricultural spending bill would be most effective if used to purchase consumer cheese products, such as American cheese and mozzarella. According to an analysis done by NMPF, appropriating that money to USDA for purchasing products commercially would enhance dairy farmer income by $1.3 billion over a period of several months.

 

Dairy Price Dilemma

The chart below illustrates the steep plunge in farm-level milk prices (the red line), compared to the average cost of making milk. Feed costs (in orange) remain elevated, and when combined with other costs of running the farm, including energy, labor, and related expenses, most farmers will be operating in the red for much of 2009.


 

A PDF of this chart is available here (updated October 2009).