PFB President: Fix Dairy, Nix Cap and Trade
Submitted by Editor on Fri, 01/22/2010 - 3:38pm.
Charlene M. Shupp Espenshade
Special Sections Editor
HARRISBURG, Pa. — At the recent American Farm Bureau Federation convention in Seattle, delegates set policies that will guide the organization for 2010, but what does that mean for Pennsylvania Farm Bureau (PFB) members? It means dairy issues and “cap and trade” legislation will be two topics high on the agenda in Pennsylvania and nationally.
Last week at the Pennsylvania Farm Show, PFB President Carl Shaffer said, “The biggest thing discussed was dairy. Pennsylvania has a real vested interest in dairy.”
For the state organization, the AFBF delegates passed a Pennsylvania-based resolution. The policy calls for a restructuring of the federal milk marketing order system, including its formulas and milk classes, to improve price transparency, reflect actual market conditions and take into account regional differences for cost of production.
“That language gives us flexibility to look at a lot of different things,” Shaffer said. PFB was also able to get policy passed making dairy a national issue. It will be one of the six major topics AFBF focuses on this year.
New dairy pricing must account for the international marketplace, Shaffer believes. To move excess milk, he said, “that’s a big market we are going to depend on.” The solution should also include a means to stabilize the dramatic price swings from record highs to record lows.
Because of the difficulties in the national dairy industry, Shaffer believes that now is the time to move on a topic usually divided by regional differences. By asking for an accounting of regional differences, he is hopeful consensus can be reached by all of the ag and dairy organizations weighing in on the price topic.
“We can’t put our dairy farmers at the risk of extinction,” said Shaffer, a grain farmer from Columbia County. As grain users, dairy farms are important to his business even though he doesn’t milk any cows himself.
“It is heartbreaking the number of farmers who have burned through their equity just to stay in business,” he said.
Federal “cap and trade” legislation aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions received a unanimous “no” from the AFBF delegates at their Seattle meeting.
Shaffer said the legislation would reduce production agriculture acreage, which in turn would reduce the infrastructure needed to support farming.
“We could become a net food importer instead of a net food exporter with this cap and trade,” he said. “This would be detrimental not only to agriculture, but to people who have become accustomed to a safe, affordable, domestic food supply.”
Charlene M. Shupp Espenshade
Special Sections Editor
HARRISBURG, Pa. — At the recent American Farm Bureau Federation convention in Seattle, delegates set policies that will guide the organization for 2010, but what does that mean for Pennsylvania Farm Bureau (PFB) members? It means dairy issues and “cap and trade” legislation will be two topics high on the agenda in Pennsylvania and nationally.
Last week at the Pennsylvania Farm Show, PFB President Carl Shaffer said, “The biggest thing discussed was dairy. Pennsylvania has a real vested interest in dairy.”
For the state organization, the AFBF delegates passed a Pennsylvania-based resolution. The policy calls for a restructuring of the federal milk marketing order system, including its formulas and milk classes, to improve price transparency, reflect actual market conditions and take into account regional differences for cost of production.
“That language gives us flexibility to look at a lot of different things,” Shaffer said. PFB was also able to get policy passed making dairy a national issue. It will be one of the six major topics AFBF focuses on this year.
New dairy pricing must account for the international marketplace, Shaffer believes. To move excess milk, he said, “that’s a big market we are going to depend on.” The solution should also include a means to stabilize the dramatic price swings from record highs to record lows.
Because of the difficulties in the national dairy industry, Shaffer believes that now is the time to move on a topic usually divided by regional differences. By asking for an accounting of regional differences, he is hopeful consensus can be reached by all of the ag and dairy organizations weighing in on the price topic.
“We can’t put our dairy farmers at the risk of extinction,” said Shaffer, a grain farmer from Columbia County. As grain users, dairy farms are important to his business even though he doesn’t milk any cows himself.
“It is heartbreaking the number of farmers who have burned through their equity just to stay in business,” he said.
Federal “cap and trade” legislation aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions received a unanimous “no” from the AFBF delegates at their Seattle meeting.
Shaffer said the legislation would reduce production agriculture acreage, which in turn would reduce the infrastructure needed to support farming.
“We could become a net food importer instead of a net food exporter with this cap and trade,” he said. “This would be detrimental not only to agriculture, but to people who have become accustomed to a safe, affordable, domestic food supply.”
