Gillibrand bills could upset dairy reform consensus
WASHINGTON, April 3, 2013 – Senator Kirsten Gillibrand,
D-N.Y., yesterday announced a host of new dairy initiatives aimed at protecting
New York’s small dairy farmers. In a teleconference with reporters yesterday,
Sen. Gillibrand placed special emphasis on a new piece of bipartisan
legislation – the Dairy Pricing Reform Act, cosponsored by Sen. Susan Collins,
R-Maine – Gillibrand says will do away with milk market distortions and bring
“income fairness” to small dairies.
Gillibrand’s announcement was especially notable because it
points to a division in the Democratic party – one that may become significant
if and when a new farm bill moves to mark-up. The New York senator specifically
called out the Dairy Security Act, the brainchild of House Agriculture
Committee Ranking Member Collin Peterson, D-Minn. Gillibrand says Peterson’s
plan would stymie small dairy growth by placing “mandatory caps on how many
cows you have today.”
Sen. Gillibrand also marked herself out as an opponent of
comprehensive supply management. Her Dairy Income Fairness Act would exempt the
first 200 cows from that oversight process, whereas Peterson’s bill includes no
such “protection” for small dairy farmers.
“The reason why supply management is in the farm bill is
that Congressman Peterson thinks you can’t have a functioning insurance system
without supply management,” she explained yesterday to reporters.
In contrast, she said, her plan would “try to protect the
smallest dairies, because we do not want to see consolidation in the dairy
industry…New York will remain the home of small dairies.” The state’s 5,150
dairy farms are exceeded only by Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, according to USDA
2012 statistics.
Gillibrand assured listeners “[House Speaker] Boehner might
support this version” of supply management. Last year, Boehner, R-Ohio, called
House Agriculture Committee farm bill dairy market stabilization provisions
“Soviet style” for their efforts to cut back on production when profit margins
are tight.
Gillibrand’s two other initiatives announced yesterday
include a Senate farm bill provision that would make mandatory the reporting of
cold storage inventory and piece of “transparency and information” legislation
that would require dairy cooperatives to provide more information to members
when casting bloc votes in Federal Milk Marketing Order referenda.
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