Oppose Changes to WA Dairy Products Commission

[Guest guest]

Folks,

A proposed bill

(

SB

6284 sponsored by Senators

Schoesler,

Rasmussen,

companion bill HB 2568 sponsored by Representative

Blake) proposes to

eliminate the Washington Dairy Products Commission seat reserved for

producer/dealers (in other words, the representative of folks who produce

and market their own dairy products). The bill also removes much of the

authority from dairy producers and commission members to appoint or

nominate commission members, instead giving more of this power over to

the WSDA Director who sits on the commission as a voting member.

Washington State has seen an increase in the number of dairy producers

who produce, bottle and market their own products. Using this model,

small-scale producers have the opportunity to get far higher prices for

their products. They sell direct to the public instead of being locked

into much lower prices by a contract to sell their milk to a dairy

processing company.

Every licensed dairy pays a mandatory assessment of 15 cents per each 100

pounds of milk produced on the farm to fund the Commission. Ten

cents of this assessment is managed by the Commission - under state

supervision - to fund its activities within Washington. The

remaining five cents of the assessment is used to fund advertising,

communications and promotional activities at the national level. These

assessments are only required from producers of cow milk. Producers of

goat or sheep milk are not assessed and therefore have no representation

on the Commission Board and are not represented by the

Commission.

More information on the WA Dairy Products Commission can be found

here:

http://www.havemilk.com/article.asp?id=1486

At this time when we are seeing an up-tick in the number of dairy

producer/dealers in Washington, it seems like an unwise move to eliminate

their representation on the Commission. Producer/dealers will still be

assessed. Some of the marketing concerns of producer/dealers are not the

same as the marketing concerns of producers who sell to processors and

without a seat on the commission, their concerns will not be addressed,

despite their assessments continuing to pay for Commission activities.

Removal of the Producer/dealer seat on the Washington Dairy Products

Commission should be opposed.

The changes in commission structure having to do with nominations and

appointments are somewhat arcane. However, the ramifications of these

proposed changes are profound. The proposed changes take power away from

the people (producers and commission members who elect and forward

nominations to the WSDA Director) and shift more of that power to

government by giving the WSDA Director more power in appointing

commission members. This is an erosion of democracy and should be

opposed.

A public hearing in the Senate Committee on Agriculture &

Rural Economic Development is scheduled for Jan 17at 3:30 PM. I

encourage dairy producers and consumers alike who can attend this hearing

to do so. I include consumers in this request since consumers ultimately

are affected by the activities of the Washington Dairy Products

Commission. Our interests are better served if the Commission is more

representative and more democratic.

Hearing Location:

Senate Hearing Rm 3

J.A. Cherberg Building

Olympia, WA

If you cannot attend the hearing and you live in a district that has a

State Senator on the Agriculture and Rural Economic Development

Committee, please contact your Senator and voice your opposition to the

proposed changes to the Commission. Committee members are below.

Agriculture & Rural Economic Development Committee

Members

Marilyn Rasmussen - Chair (D)

Hatfield - Vice Chair (D)

Mark Schoesler - Ranking Minority Member ®

Ken sen (D)

Bob Morton ®

l Shin (D)

Thank you,

Chrys Ostrander

This message originated from or was forwarded by:

Chrys Ostrander

Chrysalis Farm @ Tolstoy

Organic Micro-permaculture

33495 Mill Canyon Rd.

Davenport, WA 99122

chrys@...

http://www.thefutureisorganic.net

" From each according to their ability to each according to their

need "

Karl Marx - " Critique of the Gotha Program " 1875

" The purpose of agriculture is not the production of food, but the

perfection of human beings "

Masanobu Fukuoka - " One Straw Revolution " 1978

" We will never have an organic future and a stable climate until we

pull all the troops out of Iraq

and redirect our annual $650 billion military budget to greening the

economy and guaranteeing

a sustainable environment and economic justice for everyone. "

Ronnie Cummins, National Director, Organic Consumers Association

at the " Farms Not Arms " public forum and protest in Manhattan,

September, 2007