On Dairy Crisis, Congress Silent
Published: Friday, May 18, 2018
The following is from Farm Women United.
Farm Women United, a grassroots association organized by farm women who are fed up with decades of being ignored and silenced by the powerful special interests currently controlling this nation's agricultural policies, has presented all 46 members of the House Agriculture Committee and all 20 members of the Senate Agriculture Committee, with a questionnaire to determine the committee members' positions on nine issues relevant to the survival of America's remaining family dairy farmers.
FWU stipulated a March 1 deadline for completion of the time-sensitive questionnaire because of the dire financial emergency overwhelming dairy farmers across the U.S.
As of May 10, no Agriculture Committee members have answered this vital questionnaire, even though it was delivered to them through several different channels to be sure they received it in time.
FWU intended to grade the responses from "A through F," but, sadly, virtually all received an "F-" because no one made any effort whatsoever to answer the nine questions.
One Democrat member of the Senate Ag Committee and one Democrat member of the House Ag Committee each received an "F" because the respective aide from each office was courteous enough to make a good faith effort to contact FWU to acknowledge receipt of the emergency questionnaire but still did not submit completed questionnaires by the deadline. So, they, too, in the long run, failed the citizens they are supposed to represent, the American dairy farmers.
The FWU questionnaire focuses on many of the federal policies causing the current socio-economic disaster on American dairy farms and highlights the absolute necessity for Congressional Ag Committee members to safeguard America's food supply by immediately taking all necessary corrective policy actions to address the inequities destabilizing family dairy farmers.
"Having 100 percent of the Senate and House Ag Committees blow off this questionnaire is shocking, but it should not come as a surprise considering the low approval rating Congress has from the American people. Congress is serving only the powerful 'Dairy Industry' special interests from the 'Free Trade' lobby," said retired dairy farmer and FWU Vice-President, Donna Hall, from Muncy, Pa.
"Ignoring the FWU questionnaire demonstrates blatant dereliction of duty by powerful Congressional Ag Committee members who have failed to act in time to offer meaningful assistance to family dairy farmers who face a bleak spring with many not having enough money to plant crops. These politicians do not care about the dairy farmers or the nation's sovereign food supply," said Barb Troester, Union County, Pa. dairy farmer and FWU board member.
"This country's dairy farmers are virtually disenfranchised, shut out of the closed-door political process that determines what is contained in the 5-year federal 'farm' bills where anti-dairy farmer policies are implemented," said Lou Ann Parish, N.Y. dairy farmer and FWU board member. "Dairy farmers are so depressed by this bi-partisan political incompetence, they are facing an elevated risk of suicide. The Ag Committees bear significant responsibility for the despair driving desperate dairy farmers to lose hope."
Any member of the Senate or House Ag Committee who would like to change his/her grading, can contact FWU and submit the completed questionnaire. Farm Women United is a fair and reasonable organization and will be more than willing to update the committee member's grade based on the answers.
What FWU will not tolerate is silence from elected officials who have created the abuses being suffered by American family dairy farmers and their rural communities and now refuse to stand in the light and support long over-due dairy policy reforms.
Return to Top of Page