FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 9, 1996
CONTACT: Dana Hagerty 202/225-2165
WASHINGTON, DC -- Congressman Collin C. Peterson (DFL-7th District) today expressed disappointment in the White House’s decision to go forward with the Northeast Dairy Compact, which sets up a special regional pricing scheme for New England dairy farmers.
“While this move does not directly affect Midwestern dairy farmers, it moves us in the wrong direction,” Peterson said. “Over the next three years, USDA is scheduled to revise the milk marketing order and pricing system, and this decision by the Administration will make it harder to achieve the reforms this industry needs.
“The Northeast Dairy Compact allows an additional region to set some of their own Class 1 milk prices, as does California, and sets a dangerous precedent that could further fragment an already unmanageable system,” Peterson continued, “because it might cause the Southeast to ask for a similar compact and the Midwest will probably be forced to move in the same direction to protect itself.
“I am very disappointed in the Administration -- they have obviously put expedient politics over rational policy,” Peterson said.
“As Representative Steve Gunderson and I said last year during the Farm Bill debate, if we are going to move in this direction, we might as well get rid of the entire Federal dairy program and leave it up to the states,” Peterson concluded.