Ohioans have spoken and clearly understand that a board of experts is the appropriate entity to make decisions on behalf of animal agriculture and food production in our state.
Passage of Issue 2 is a win for everyone who acknowledges the essential relationship between excellent farm animal care and a safe, affordable, locally grown food supply. Voters agree with Ohio’s farm community and our diverse base of supporters - decisions about food and farming should be made in Ohio, by Ohioans.
Good news for Ohio’s dairy industry! On March 30, Judge James L. Graham of the US District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, Eastern Division, issued a ruling that upheld nearly all of the Ohio Department of Agriculture's dairy labeling rule.
The dairy industry is currently in crisis, rapidly falling milk prices and continually high input costs are squeezing dairy producers and forcing many out of business.
ODPA believes there are several actions that USDA could take to make more effective use of the tools at its disposal and help provide much-needed support to the dairy industry during these most challenging times.
This includes:
- Make it easier for cheese and butter makers to sell products to the USDA under thedairy product price support program, expand the purchases to processed and ready to eat products
- Use more dairy foods in government feeding programs, food banks, school programs,
- Resurrect the Dairy Export Incentive Program to boost overseas sales of U.S. products.
March 26, 2009 - Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack today announces that approximately 200 million pounds of nonfat dry milk will be transferred from the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) to USDA's Food and Nutrition Service for use in domestic feeding programs. The goal is to help support both low-income families struggling to put nutritious food on their tables and dairy farmers who have been challenged by high feed costs and low dairy prices.
USDA Press Release
ODPA believes that the sales of raw milk should be banned at all levels. It is currently banned at the interstate commerce, but still permitted under the intra sate level. It is simply a matter of food safety.
ODPA works closely with NMPF on immigration reform. Immigrant labor plays a very important role in contributing to the success of America's dairy industry. www.nmpf.org
Click here to read ODPA’s most recent communication to the US Department of Labor on this important issue.
For the latest on the National Animal Identification System (NAIS), visit the NMPF website.
www.nmpf.org
USDA statistics indicate that such a permit requirement would include 99 percent of milk production, more than 90 percent of beef production and more than 95 percent of all hog production in the United States. The potential permit fee would vary from state to state, but for states using EPA’s “presumptive minimum rate” this could amount to $175 per dairy cow. The net effect of this policy would be to impose severe penalties on livestock producers without effectively reducing greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere. Most emissions from cows and pigs are from natural or biological processes. Fees (or taxes) on cows and hogs will impose a significant added cost for dairy, beef and hog producers that cannot easily be absorbed. Imposition of such costs will likely cause many operators to go out of business.