Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., second from left, looks on as Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., left, pets Maggie, an Ayrshire cow from the Maple Lawn Farm in Fulton, Md., before a press conference, Tuesday, Sept. 15, on Capitol Hill about the dairy crisis. (U.S. Senate photo/Frank Fey)

Washington, D.C. – The National Farmers Union joined by U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., Robert Casey, Jr., D-Pa., Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Tom Udall, D-N.M., and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) today backed legislation to support dairy farmers.

The Senate in August passed Sanders’ amendment to the agriculture appropriations bill to provide an extra $350 million for milk price supports and to increase government purchases of surplus dairy products.

Sanders also has urged the U.S. Department of Justice to look into antitrust issues involving giant companies that dominate the dairy products market.  Sanders and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Leahy will take part in a Judiciary Committee field hearing on antitrust issues in the dairy industry. The hearing will be on Saturday, September 19, in St. Albans, Vt.

Sanders said, “These are tough times but, working together with senators from different parts of the country, we have taken some important steps to begin to address the dairy crisis. We need to look at larger structural reforms to the arcane and complicated dairy pricing system, we need to look at supply management to end the boom and bust cycle of dairy prices, and we need to launch investigations into the manipulative and anti-competitive practices of companies like Dean Foods that control more and more of the market and are forcing down the price that farmers get paid for their milk.”

Leahy said, “We are going to work together to retain this important Senate funding in the appropriations bill as we move forward with the conference.  Our dairy farmers cannot stay in business with the gap between the cost of production and the milk price continuing to grow to unprecedented levels. The best long-term solution is for farmers to get a fair price for their product from the market.  I remain hopeful that dairy farmers across the country can come together and agree on a long-term solution that will help not only Vermont’s dairy farms, but also those in Wisconsin, California, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and everywhere in between.”

-Vermont Daily News staff report