Area dairy farms headed to March 29 meeting to protect their livelihood
Story Created:
Mar 16, 2010 at 5:04 PM EST
Story Updated:
Mar 16, 2010 at 5:04 PM EST
STEUBEN, N.Y. (WKTV) - It's a staple on your grocery list - milk. While you're paying more for every gallon, farmers in Central New York are actually making less.
On Tuesday, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer announced he's getting involved in the issue and he wants to hear what local farmers have to say.
Currently, the price paid to local dairy farmers is the lowest in forty years. Officials are now asking farmers to help their investigation over how claims of anti-competitive practices are driving down prices paid to dairy farmers while store costs rise. New York is considered a "milk deficit state," making less milk than it consumes.
Senator Schumer announced Tuesday that he will hold a meeting on March 29 in Batavia at Genesee Community College to talk about the issue.
Ben Simons is one Oneida county farmer that plans to not only go to that meeting, but speak at it. He said he's operating in the red, and he's not alone. Simons has spent his life making a living off of dairy farming and he's frustrated with the steps he needs to take just to keep the farm financially afloat.
"The price of milk has been on a constant decline, so we're actually going back down below the cost of operating," Simons said. "We're going to be borrowing against he equity of our farms if we're not doing something to subsidize the farm."
This upcoming meeting in Batavia will be the first public forum upstate on the issue that's forcing dairy farmers out of business.
Assistant Attorney General Christen Varney will be present, along with Justice Department officials at the March 29 meeting.
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