Dairy farmers promote school milk

FISHERSVILLE — Rockingham County dairy farmer Dan Myers smiled Wednesday as he handed out stickers and pencils to Wilson Middle School students to celebrate World School Milk Day.

The positive milk promotion happened as Congress labored in Washington to pass a $350-million emergency aid package to help dairy farmers who have lost money heavily this year because of milk prices and export cuts.

While milk producers need a boost, the hope was that young people would appreciate the nutritional benefits of milk more on World School Milk Day.

Myers, whose family has operated a dairy farm near Harrisonburg for 132 years, said things must get better for dairy farmers or “there will not be any milk, yogurt and ice cream’’ in grocery stores.

Myers and other dairy farmers he knows have been losing $10,000 a month since January as a result of lower milk prices and a big drop in the export market for their product.

The losses are thousands greater than what Myers reports for larger dairy producers across the country.

“If you are feeding 1,000 cows you are losing more than someone feeding 100 cows,’’ said Sixth District Rep. Bob Goodlatte, a member and former chairman of the House Agriculture Committee.

Goodlatte, R-Roanoke, said the solution is complicated for dairy farmers.

He said long-term, there needs to be a decreased number of dairy herds, a project now being worked on by the National Milk Producers Federation.
And the congressman said he is working to open more export markets for U.S. milk, which he described as “an ongoing challenge.”

Goodlatte has written letters to both the secretary of agriculture and U.S. trade representative about the export markets for milk, and he met with the trade representative this week.

Dairy farmers are hoping for a resurgence in milk prices which fell from $20.58 to $13.29 per 100 pounds between November 2008 and August, according to the National Milk Producers Federation.

“Economists are saying a lot will change before Christmas,’’ said Myers, who said many of his colleagues are wondering why they stay in the business.
Myers added debt a decade ago when he modernized his farm with new equipment and facilities.

Another dairy farmer talking to students at Wilson, Dan Holsinger, has not seen times as tough as these since the 1980s.

But it’s a life to which Holsinger and his family cling.

“It’s our lifestyle,’’ said Holsinger, who runs a farm with 160 cows on more than 500 acres outside Waynesboro. “But it is so discouraging to work hard and you can’t pay the bills.”
Goodlatte is awaiting a report of House and Senate conferees before voting on the aid package to dairy farmers.

The congressman would prefer the aid package lean more toward purchasing dairy products to distribute to the needy than straight aid to dairy farmer.
With direct aid to farmers, Goodlatte said “the taxpayer gets nothing.”

Jill Henderson, a program account manager with The Southeast United Dairy Industry Association, said students at Wilson and other U.S. schools and those in 40 countries were encouraged Wednesday to “drink more milk.”

Henderson said students were told that milk helps build strong bones and leads to better nutrition if consumed at school.

She said the school message is important because students consume about 50 percent of their daily calories at school.