NJ Agriculture Department to Hold Hearings to Raise Costs of Farm Milk During Record High Period

NO. SYRACUSE, NY (11/27/2007)(readMedia)-- The New Jersey Department of Agriculture has announced a series of three hearings this week starting Tuesday November 27th to be held across the state to address continuing fuel add on premiums for dairy farmers and labeling of milk and milk products. The fuel add on premiums (money charged milk processors and returned to dairy farmers) were started in March 2007, are based on the costs of diesel fuel. The processor’s extra costs to pay the mandated premiums are either absorbed by milk processors or passed along to retailers. The extra cost can be as much as $.04 cents per gallon depending on the milk processing company.

Prices paid to dairy farmers in New Jersey during 2007 have been at all time record high levels. The average uniform price received by dairy farmers in October 2007, in the Long Valley, NJ region was $22.23/cwt. (per hundred weight or pounds) of milk, or about $1.91 per gallon. This is an increase of over 60% from October of 2006 when the price received by dairy farmers was $13.89/cwt.

Bruce W. Krupke, Executive Vice President of New York State Dairy Foods, Inc. who is scheduled to testify at the Town of Allamuchy - Town Hall on Wednesday, November 28 says “the dairy processing and manufacturing industry is questioning why the New Jersey Agriculture Department would need to continue the fuel add on adjuster at a time when dairy farmers are being paid all time record high prices. He continued “there is no need to continue the fuel add on premiums while retail prices consumers are paying for milk in stores in the New Jersey and metropolitan areas are at record high levels, consumers shouldn’t have to pay the extra costs at a time when dairy farmers are truly benefiting from these high raw milk prices.” No other state in the nation has adopted by law a similar fuel add on adjuster premium that is paid directly to dairy farmers.

Additionally, the New Jersey Department of Agriculture has included in the hearing the topic of milk and dairy product labeling. There has been recent action in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania over labeling of rBST free milk which has concerned milk processors. Some processors in the marketplace in reaction to consumer demands have started to label their packaging according to FDA regulations their milk does not come from dairy farms that use supplemental rBST, (rBST is a synthetic hormone used by dairy farmers and approved over 10 years ago by the FDA help cows produce more milk).

The Secretary of Agriculture in Pennsylvania, Dennis Wolff recently issued notices to 16 milk processors to cease using the descriptor labeling on their packaging by February 1, 2008. Milk processors cited in Secretary’s Wolff’s announcement of having labeling that do not conform to regulations disagree with his findings and ascertain consumers have a right to know so long as it is truthful and legal.

Bruce Krupke adds, “We are very concerned about the future intent of the New Jersey Agriculture Department to make similar mandates as Pennsylvania.” He continued, “New Jersey and New York State processors who follow the labeling laws set forth by the Food and Drug Administration should have the right to make truthful claims on their packaging, individual states should not interfere in any way with that process, it is up to the federal government to decide labeling issues.” What new regulations or extra premiums that could be assessed by the NJ Department of Agriculture regarding the use of rBST free milk or labeling in the future will be debated by those who will testify at the hearings.

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(New York State Dairy Foods, Inc. is a full service trade association located in Syracuse, NY, representing milk processors and distributors, cheese and ice cream manufacturers in the Northeast U.S. since 1928.)

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