03/28/06 Dairy Loophole

Congress is taking on two major issues this week of importance to dairy producers - and the members of Dairy Farmers of America are urging farmers to get involved. In the House - lawmakers will vote on a measure that would close a loophole in current Federal Milk Marketing Orders - a measure that allows large-scale milk processors - who also produce their own milk - to have an unfair competitive advantage. The other bill - being debated by the Senate - involves immigration reform. Ray Gene Veldhuis (VELD-HEISS) is a dairy producer from Wenton, California. He says that -- after three long years of debate -- the producer-handler bill - S 2120 - could finally put to rest an inequity that was never intended in the marketplace VELDHUIS: Veldhuis says that loophole isn`t just unfair to dairy processors and producers - but consumers as well. Unregulated handlers take business away from regulated handlers - drain revenue from regulated dairy farmers - and eliminate competition. That`s why Veldhuis says it`s important for dairy producers to contact their Representatives and urge them to vote in favor of S. 2120 - the producer-handler bill... VELDHUIS: In January, a Federal District Court judge in the District of Columbia ruled against three large producer-handlers from the Pacific Northwest that had challenged the USDA`s decision to regulate their milk sales. The judge found no basis for interfering with USDA`s new producer-handler rule in the Pacific Northwest market which, along with the Arizona-Las Vegas market, will soon have a limit as to how much milk a producer-handler can bottle and still be exempt from Federal Order pooling requirements. That's today's Line on Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.