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February 15, 2000
AMPI manager testifies against unfair dairy compactsTestimony camelast week beforeSenate ag committeeBy GUY PRIEL Journal Staff Writer WASHINGTON -- Testifying before committees on Capitol Hill has become a way of life for Associated Milk Producer's Inc. General Manager Mark Furth. Furth visited Washington Feb. 9, at the invitation of U.S. Sen. Rod Grams, R-Minn., to testify before the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry. "There are quite a few Midwest senators active on the committee," Furth said. "Although there are none from Minnesota. Many times people will speak before a committee to show another viewpoint to lawmakers." The purpose of the recent testimony was to review the state of milk pricing regulations in the United States. "The two federal programs that are currently in place date back to the 1940s. They are over 50 years old and it is time for some cutting and pasting," Furth said. Because the market has changed dramatically in the past few years, the existing patchwork of regional pricing systems under the dairy compacts are really unfair, he said. "The Northeast Dairy Compact is discriminatory and is not good for the Midwest," Furth said. "It is time for us to eliminate the milk pricing compacts and move quickly to a national price system without regional distortions." During his testimony, Furth compared the existing dairy compacts to the Titanic, stating that in a world dairy market, the safety net would save too few farmers from failure. "When the Titanic set to sea, there was great confidence that new technology and new markets were unbeatable," he said. "The Titanic was so unsinkable that it provided life boats for less than half the passengers. Not only would we be short of life boats, but have pre-assigned seating besides." Although AMPI is a cooperative, it serves 5,000 dairy farmers in seven states. The mission is to represent Midwest dairy farmers in Washington, because there is more milk marketed from Minnesota than any other state, Furth said. "The philosophy is that we can run a good business and provide a good service. In Washington the practice has been to adopt contrary policies and that is unfair," he said. "The Midwest is at an interesting political disadvantage." The seven states in the Upper Midwest contain 25 percent of the nation's dairies, but only 5 percent of the nation's population, which makes a significant difference in the amount of representation at the federal level, he said. "We need to push to ensure that policies are developed that allow the Midwest to export agricultural products," he said. "The existing policies are passed at the expense of the Midwest. We think it's important that they listen to us." Furth said he felt like the mood of the committee members was very friendly toward the concerns he expressed.
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