According to the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) website, “U.S. dairy producers have been facing unprecedented losses over the past year due to low milk prices and high input costs… dire economic straits have forced many farmers to exit the industry, oftentimes having to sell their herds or farms.”
...Jake and Lori Slegers...last summer sent their 1500-plus head of cattle to be turned into hamburger.
“He [Jake] said it was the hardest thing he ever had to do,” Lori Slegers told the AP.
...The Slegers estimate they’ve gone through more than a million dollars in savings to keep the farm afloat, and predicted more staggering financial loss was on the way.
...The AP reports individual farmers are sending cows to slaughter at a rate of 55,000 per week, leading a professor at the University of Wisconsin to estimate more than 3 million cows will be killed in a year – all in hopes of raising the prices paid to farmers by milk producers.
But while American dairy farmers face the prospect of culling the herd or losing their farms (and in many cases they go hand-in-hand), the Obama administration has removed the import surcharge on dairy products from Israel.
In a story covered by the Israeli news service, Ynet, President Obama signed last week a presidential memo that eliminated the tariffs on exports of dairy products from Israel to the U.S.
In simple terms, the President of the United States just eliminated another wall of protection for American dairy farmers and stopped the flow of much needed levy cash into our faltering economy.
Slightly more disturbing was the response Pacific Free Press contributor (and executive director of If Americans Knew), Alison Weir, received when she contacted the US Department of Agriculture, where no one she spoke with was aware this policy change had been implemented. Full story
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