http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/tex...27_milk12.html
"There has never been a greater gap between what a Seattle-Tacoma consumer pays
for milk and what Washington farmers receive for that milk," the Washington State
Public Interest Research Group (WashPIRG) says in a report released today.
Quoting from data on the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Web site, the
group says the average price for a gallon of whole milk in this area in July was
$3.52, while the government-set farm price was $1, second-lowest in the nation after
the upper Midwest region, which was 99 cents."
this article includes some reasons milk prices are so high.

1. I live in Wisconsin, the dairy state. There is (was?) a gradient with Wisconsin
farmers getting the least in price support and price support getting higher as the
distance from Wisconsin increases ... i.e. California gets the most. Most dairy
farms in Wisconsin (my grandparents) were family farms, most dairy farms in Cal are
agribusiness.
2. I live in Wisconsin, the dairy state. I turn on the local NPR and hear about how
farmers are getting screwed with such low prices for their milk that many family
farms are going out of business or getting out of the dairy business. At the same
time people in Wisconsin are paying extremely high prices for milk. Wisconsin is a
big "got milk" state (not that I can drink it). Thus ensues a big debate on what the
HELL is going on. Senator Russ Feingold (WI) was been trying to get that "Wisconsin
farmers get the lowest price supports" repealed. The idea at the time was to make
sure all states were producing enough LOCAL milk for all the children and keep the
prices low.

no one knows how many farmers are using rBGH cause they are not required to report
same to anybody and Monsanto isnt saying either. But when the stuff came out around
1992 farmers were telling me (I was running for Congress at the time) that they were
being pressured by Monsanto to use the stuff. I was part of a bipartisan group that
worked to get Wisconsin to pass laws allowing labeling of milk as rBGH free (tommy
thompson did sign it) to protect farmers from the wrath of Monsanto who was suing
anybody labeling their products rBGH free. I did see rBGH free labeled milk for a
few years, but dont see it anymore... well except Ben and Jerry's ice cream.
Ingrid


"Darwin Vander Stelt" wrote:
... snip


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