Willie Nelson steps into milk-price debate

Willie Nelson and the Farm Aid organization are urging U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack to put a floor under milk prices after prices paid to dairy farmers fell by more than half this year, and the organization has started a petition drive to round up support for its position.

The free-fall in dairy prices has crippled areas where farmers operate dairies and/or supply hay, silage and other feed for milk production. Earlier this month, California reported what is believed to be the fifth instance of a dairy farmer committing suicide. Larger dairies are losing hundreds of thousands of dollars a month, but even smaller operators are being hit, according to a release from Farm Aid. High feed and energy costs last year took a toll

“Setting a fair price for milk won’t fix all the problems that led to the current crisis, but it may be the only way to keep thousands of dairy farmers on their farms this year,” said Nelson, a Farm Aid board member and ag activist. “Unless Secretary Vilsack takes immediate action, huge areas of the United States may be left without any local dairy farms at all.”

The price of milk paid to farmers by processors collapsed a record 30% in January, according to a release from Farm Aid, and prices are "currently down 50% since July 2008. In the meantime, the top dairy processors have recently announced 2009 first quarter earnings that are up from the same period last year. The top processor, Dean Foods, reported their first quarter earnings are more than double that of last year thanks in part to the plunging price Dean pays to its milk producers."

-- Owen Taylor