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Capitol Press and Interested Parties,
Please see below the bipartisan open letter distributed to various regional newspapers on Friday urging support for Minnesota's dairy industry.
Please contact me or Ted if you are interested in speaking with Reps. Anderson or Poppe.
Thanks,
AW
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA CONTACT:
Andrew Wagner (House GOP)
651-895-2451 (cell)
Andrew.Wagner@house.mn
Ted Modrich (House DFL)
612-803-1877
ted.modrich@house.mn
News Release
A bipartisan, open letter urging Minnesotans to support the dairy industry amid hard times
The dairy industry is hurting and the COVID-19 situation has changed the demand curve for milk and other dairy products.
We all can help by drinking more milk and eating more ice cream and cheese. It's a win-win situation because these are all nutritious products that kids love. In addition, stores can do their part by working with the supply chain to ensure plenty of product is stocked in their coolers and on their shelves. In time, the system will adjust and add more capacity to the fluid milk market, which is where the demand currently is.
Dairy prices have not been good for several years; we've had about a 10-percent reduction in the number of dairy farms each year these past few years. Things were starting to look better earlier this year. Then COVID-19 appeared and, with schools shutting down, along with bars and restaurants, the demand for milk shifted dramatically.
Cheese production was the biggest user of milk for institutional markets and when that demand went away, there was a surplus of milk that had no other use except for the fluid milk market. The shift was unexpected and sudden, so there were no plans in place to make the changes needed to keep the supply chain going smoothly.
As the virus situation became more widespread, shoppers at grocery stores began buying more milk. With all the kids home from school, milk consumption at home increased. This first “run” of milk demand drained the system and it couldn't keep up. That is the reason some stores have been asking customers to limit their purchases of milk.
The milk market reached this low point because the processing and distribution system was unable to adjust fast enough to meet the growing consumer demand as the institutional demand simultaneously plummeted. This issue became newsworthy in the last week or so when scenes were shown of milk being dumped because there was no place that could receive it. It was frustrating to see these images of milk being dumped while, at the same time, signs hang in stores limiting purchases.
Our dairy industry and the farmers who work in it is in a precarious position and we need to do everything we can to stabilize it or the consequences could be dramatic and ripple throughout our society. We know this isn’t a simple issue to address, but grocery stores are in a position to provide a win-win-win-win situation by increasing availability of milk, which will help store sales, provide the product so many families are seeking, helping our Minnesota dairy farmers, and even partnering with food shelves to make milk available to them either directly or through a voucher system. Your assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Rep. Paul Anderson, R-Starbuck
Rep. Jeanne Poppe, DFL-Austin
Rep. Rod Hamilton, R-Mountain Lake
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