Connie Tipton, president and CEO of the International Dairy Foods Association, spoke today on behalf of more than 140 dairy manufacturing members at a roundtable sponsored by the Republican members of the House Committee on Small Business. "The Interests of America's Small Businesses in the Next Farm Bill" roundtable also included other agriculture-related groups representing wheat, corn, and soybean growers; pork producers; and dairy farmers.

 

Tipton told the committee members that they would be surprised to learn that the dairy industry is heavily regulated by rules that were designed to address problems that existed nearly a century ago and that those regulations now stifle innovation and growth of the dairy industry. She

urged the members to co-sponsor H.R. 3372, a bill that would phase out federal milk pricing regulations and allow prices to be fairly negotiated between buyers and sellers.

 

Tipton warned that a proposal sponsored by Representative Collin Peterson (D-MN) and backed by dairy cooperatives would impose an entirely new regulatory burden on dairy processors to enforce a new program to periodically limit milk production.

 

"This direct government intrusion into dairy markets is euphemistically called 'market stabilization,'" said Tipton, "but what it really does is require businesses, large and small, that buy milk to 'withhold payments' from farmers and send checks to the U.S. Department of

Agriculture instead."

 

Tipton urged committee members to "work with dairy manufacturers, and some forward-thinking producers, to oppose production limits for the dairy industry."

 

The full text of Tipton's remarks is attached and is available online at

http://www.idfa.org/news--views/statements--speeches/details/6967/.