Monsanto says Maine program
'Quality Trademark Seal'
Misleads Consumers about Milk

AP 28nov02

Farmers complain of low milk prices

AP 2dec02

In a letter to Attorney General Steven Rowe and Agriculture Commissioner Robert Spear, the St. Louis-based company said that milk from cows treated with its bovine growth hormone product, POSILAC 1 STEP, is "equivalent in all respects to other milk." The product, known generically as rBST, is used to enhance milk production.

Products with the Quality Seal label are required to use only milk from farmers who provide affidavits that state the milk is believed to be from cows that are not given rBST. Monsanto, joined by the Biotechnology Association of Maine and three dairy farms, said the claims on those affidavits are impossible to substantiate.

The parties contend that the program gives consumers the false impression that milk from cows that have been given the hormone is associated with health risks.

They also argue that two major processors, Portland-based Oakhurst Dairy and H.P. Hood, based in Chelsea, Mass., are engaging in unfair trade practices by using the labels. They have asked Rowe to initiate law enforcement proceedings against Oakhurst and Hood.

Deputy Agriculture Commissioner Ned Porter said Wednesday that his department is looking to Rowe's office for advice on how to proceed.

"They have the legal expertise, and we're hoping for some guidance," Porter said.

Representatives from the attorney general's office, Oakhurst and Hood who are authorized to discuss the issue were not available for comment when their offices were contacted Wednesday afternoon.

Oakhurst acknowledges on its Web site that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of products like Monsanto's, but that concerns remain.

Milk prices have tumbled nationwide, and Maine farmers have been particularly hard hit because their smaller farms are less able to cope with losses.

That, combined with the loss of price supports that the defunct Northeast Interstate Dairy Compact used to provide, are threatening to drive many dairy farmers out of business.

''This is a real crisis,'' said Department of Agriculture Commissioner Robert Spear. ''We always see swings in milk prices, but this is the longest I've seen it swing as low as this.''

Egide Dostie II, a Fairfield dairy farmer, said a newly revised federal subsidy program pays him only about half as much as he got from customers under the Northeast Interstate Dairy Compact, which expired last year.

Dostie, who has 270 cows, said he is losing $20,000 per month. With $1 million in debt, Dostie said it is only a matter of time before he is forced out of business.

''We're close now,'' said Dostie, 31. ''We've been borrowing money to stay in business. Sooner or later we'll have to decide when to quit.''

Milk is one of Maine's top agricultural products, worth $106 million in 2001. But the industry is also hurting: The number of dairy farms has fallen from 674 in 1990 to 454 in 2000.

To bolster the Northeast dairy industry, Congress five years ago created a compact that guaranteed farmers in Maine and five other Northeastern states a minimum price for their milk to protect them when prices dipped.

The price was $16.94 per 100 pounds of milk, or about 12 gallons. Processors passed along the higher price to customers.

But farmers in the Midwest and West complained that the compact amounted to unfair competition. Wisconsin lawmakers blocked a proposed extension of the compact, causing it to expire after four years in September 2001.

During the past year, prices dipped as low as $11 per 100 pounds. The October price was $13.40 and the November price was $13.85.

The National Farmers Organization called it the longest stretch of low prices in 24 years. Industry officials complain that imported powdered milk is keeping overall prices low.

Congress agreed this year to create a federal subsidy program that pays dairy farmers nationwide a minimum price similar to the compact.

Maine farmers say the new program is flawed because it is linked to the compact price, which was set in 1996 and doesn't account for inflation in feed and other costs.

Additionally, they say farms must comply with federal conservation programs in order to qualify for the subsidy, unlike under the compact, and that the subsidy seems like a welfare payment.

And for larger operations, such as Dostie's, limits on the program could be fatal. Congress limits payments to the first 2.4 million pounds of milk that a farm produces in a year, which translates to a farm of about 110 to 130 cows.

But Dostie's cows produce about 5 million pounds of milk annually, meaning he is eligible for subsidies for only the first 2.4 million gallons his farm produces.

Maine's congressional delegation supports a return to the compact. But lawmakers from the Midwest and West already proved capable of defeating the compact when the six-year Farm Bill was approved this year.

Maine farmers have now asked the Maine Milk Commission to require processors to pay farmers a higher price based on scientific studies documenting the higher cost of producing milk in the state.

Spear, the state agriculture commissioner, said legislators are exploring another state-level strategy that would create a milk tax charged to customers. The money would flow into the state's general fund and be distributed back to farmers, as sort of a state-level compact.

But prospects are uncertain for federal or state action.

''Nothing is for sure,'' Spear said.

If you have come to this page from an outside location click here to get back to mindfully.org