Program Areas The Division of Milk Control and Dairy Services is responsible for all aspects of the State’s dairy industry. The Division has a dual role to protect the health and welfare of the people of New York State and to help promote the agricultural economic development of the dairy industry through various economic controls and programs. Bureau of Milk Control Bureau of Licensing and Auditing Bureau of Dairy Policy Fluid Milk Sanitation Program The Division employs some 40 Dairy Products Specialists who annually conduct approximately 10,000 inspections for compliance with sanitation, bacteriological, chemical, standards of identity, and economic fraud.
In addition, the Specialists sample nearly 14,000 dairy products for laboratory analysis. About 7,000 dairy farms are inspected by more than 120 certified milk inspectors (CMI’s). These inspectors have been certified by the Department to perform dairy farm inspections, which include the sanitary conditions of the farm, the health of the cows, and the health of individuals working on the farm. These farms are inspected at least twice a year but may be inspected more frequently if irregularities are found. Labeling of Dairy Products Advances in food technology and labeling changes in regulations have resulted in the development of a variety of reduced fat dairy products. Properly identifying these and all products, via product labels, gives consumers confidence to try new and healthy alternatives to traditional dairy products. Field staff review labels as part of their normal inspection responsibilities to ensure that consumers are provided with clear, accurate, and factual information on product content.
Milk Processing Equipment Requirements and Approvals The Division inspects and approves new and modified milk processing equipment to be installed by the industry to ensure conformity to specifications. The Division trains its own staff and dairy industry personnel on various technical aspects of dairy equipment as well as the proper cleaning, construction and installation of such equipment. By regulation, any person who installs equipment on a dairy farm or in a milk plant must register with the Department. Interstate Milk Shippers Program This is a Federal/State cooperative program designed to facilitate interstate movement of milk. Participating shippers under the must maintain their plants and dairy farms in substantial compliance with the. These shippers must be rated once every two years, and receive a rating of 90 or above to maintain eligibility. Each year, the Division's rating officers accompany FDA's Regional Milk Specialist in conducting check-ratings.
Check-ratings are performed by the FDA to verify that the ratings given by Department Rating Officers have been maintained by the individual plants and farms since the time of rating. If the state rating and evaluation program is not operated in substantial compliance, New York State plants would be prohibited from freely moving milk and milk products in interstate commerce. The Division oversees and maintains compliance with all aspects of the in order to ensure reciprocity among receiving states. A large component of this program involves training and coordinating with FDA personnel and rating officers from other states. Milk Testing Laboratory Inspections, Evaluations and Licensing In addition to the farm and plant level operation of the NCIMS program, the Division certifies laboratories that test milk, dairy products, and water. The Division’s Laboratory Evaluation Officers conduct complete on-site evaluations once every two years.
All laboratories are inspected every six months to ensure the accuracy of sample testing. Split samples are delivered to participating New York State laboratories, in addition to the States of Maryland, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Vermont, and are analyzed for various quality tests.
The results are statistically analyzed to determine participating laboratories’ ability to correctly test the samples. The Division continues to work closely with the and the to assure an effective animal drug residue control program for the milk supply. Much of the national program was patterned after the Department’s program, which has been in place in New York for many years.
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Training, Seminars and Consumer Education and five training schools for Certified Industry Milk Inspectors are held annually with approximately 200 in attendance at each event. Seminars are also held for Milk Laboratory Technicians. The Division also plays an important role in the operation of the dairy products exhibits at the. Licensing and Auditing and Financial Oversight New milk dealer license applications and license renewals are reviewed and evaluated in terms of financial responsibility, character, and ability or performance of the applicant in conducting the proposed business and providing service to the public. Dairy markets and milk dealer performance are monitored to determine adequacy of service by dealers and the vitality of market competition. Changes in the organization and structure of the dairy industry and in the business operations of licensees require continuing review and updating of licensing procedures.
Milk plant operators, producer cooperatives, milk distributors, haulers and brokers are licensed as milk dealers according to the functions they perform. Stores, operators of vending machines (as a result of 2002 legislation), and farmers are generally exempted from licensing as long as they meet specific conditions that are detailed in the. The Division also reviews and updates the official regulations promulgated under Milk Producers Security Program Licensed milk dealers who purchase milk directly from New York dairy farmers or cooperatives are required to file security to ensure that farmers are paid.
A milk dealer can choose to pay into the Milk Producers Security Fund or provide full alternate security. Alternate security can be a bond or letter of credit covering 40 days of milk purchases. Dealers who pay into the security fund, unless exempted, must supplement such payments with a surety bond or letter of credit covering a minimum of twelve days purchases. Dealers who are financially weak may be required to provide security for more than the minimum amount. Exemption from the mandatory minimum security required is granted to dealers who make only small purchases of milk from producers or have better than average financial condition. The amount of surety bond or letter of credit that a dealer is required to provide is based on the volume of milk purchases and a review of the financial information provided. Additional information is obtained through the licensing process, audits and required reports permits regular monitoring of a dealer's purchases, timeliness of payments to producers, and financial condition.
Another program responsibility of the Division is to ensure compliance with the Cooperative Financial Disclosure Law. This law requires each dairy cooperative to furnish its members and prospective members with all pertinent financial and corporate information about the organization in a timely manner. Dairy farmer members of such cooperatives are thus assured of timely and complete information on the finances and operating policies of their marketing organizations. Milk Price Gouging Law, Retail Milk Price Survey & Oversight The Division conducts a monthly retail milk price in cities across the state and oversees enforcement of the milk price gouging law. This law protects consumers from excessively high retail milk prices.
The Division calculates a 'threshold' price each month as a benchmark for evaluating retail prices. Retail stores that price above the threshold price may be subject to legal action based upon referral by our Department to the Attorney General if they cannot establish that the prices they charge are justified by actual costs. The threshold price is a price that is 200 percent of the farm price for Class I milk. Monitoring retailers compliance with the law has been primarily carried out through milk price survey data of supermarkets. Milk Marketing Order Nearly all milk produced by New York farmers is regulated under a Federal or State Milk Marketing Order.
Market orders are voluntary programs that are initiated and approved by dairy farmers. Orders are enforced by State and Federal governments after farmers approve their establishment through voting in a producer referendum. Milk Marketing Orders enhance the orderly marketing of milk through terms and conditions that provide for minimum pricing, audits of receipts, disposition and payments for milk by handlers, and dissemination of market information.
A system of classified milk pricing and market-wide pooling is used for cost uniformity among handlers and to yield an equitable return to all producers for the milk marketing areas. Market orders are periodically reviewed to ensure that they remain appropriate under changing economic environments. The Division oversees the operation of the Western New York State Milk Marketing Order covering all or parts of 15 counties. The major population centers of Buffalo, Niagara Falls, and Rochester, NY are included in the State marketing area. The rest of the State is covered by the Federal Order that regulates the. The Western New York State Milk Marketing Office receives monthly reports of receipts and utilization of milk by regulated dairy plants, computes monthly class and blend prices for milk, verifies the accuracy of dairy plant monthly reports and payments through field audit, and compiles monthly statistics for the market. Due to the importance and complexity of the regulations, there is ongoing analysis and evaluation of the terms and provisions of the order as they affect or relate to changing conditions in the marketing of milk and dairy products.
Dairy Promotion The Division is responsible for administration of the New York State Dairy Promotion Order (NYSDPO) issued by the Commissioner and approved by the State's milk producers. The Order was established to promote the consumption of New York milk and dairy products. A ten member dairy farmer advisory board appointed by the Commissioner oversees and recommends to the Commissioner the appropriate expenditure of assessments collected from New York dairy farmers.
The advisory board provides policy guidance for the Commissioner and assists in administering the Order. Milk producers pay 15 cents per hundredweight of milk produced for dairy promotion. The New York State Dairy Promotion Order (our office) retains 10 cents and the remaining 5 cents is used for national program activities (paid to National Dairy Promotion and Research Board at 10255 West Higgins Road, Suite 900, Rosemont, II. Monthly assessments collected by the NYSDPO are used for contractual milk promotion activities, administrative costs, and research.
Further information on the State Promotion Order is found in and information on the National Promotion Program is found on. Market Research, Economic Analysis, Dairy Statistics and Information The Division compiles and publishes on all aspects of the New York dairy industry, including the number of milk plants and dealers, receipts and utilization of milk, milk sales, production of manufactured dairy products, prices and returns for milk and descriptive information relative to the organization and structure of the industry.
The information is compiled from various reports such as bulk tank unit, payment, plant and route sale reports. Approximately 6,200 reports are processed each year. Statistics and information are widely used by government, academia and the dairy industry for projections, research, policy-making, and planning. They also provide a basis for staff to analyze trends and developments in the New York dairy industry and to estimate future levels of milk supplies, sales and prices. Statistics are also furnished to the USDA for national dairy information programs. A dairy statistics database is maintained by the Division and shared with government, university and industry dairy economists around the state and region, and other parts of the country.
This work enhances the ability of the Department to respond promptly to information requests and to analyze the economic implications of dairy policy issues and proposals. Special projects are undertaken for the industry if time and availability of staff permit. The Division collects data on fluid milk sales, manufactured dairy products, receipts at New York plants and payments to New York farmers. Statistics are also provided to farmers, milk dealers, consumers, and interested parties. Dairy market developments are constantly monitored to respond to market disruptions.
Milk Marketing Advisory Council The Milk Marketing Advisory Council (MMAC) brings producers, processors, retailers and consumers together to provide insight and advice to the Commissioner in planning programs and policies pertaining to the challenging issues facing the entire realm of the New York dairy industry., which details the establishment and responsibilities of the Council.
The national average price of organic milk in Canada was $2.42/L in 2017 while the average price of conventional milk was $1.51/L in 2017. These costs are derived from the gold standard of retail pricing, AC Nielsen. It’s important to remember that dairy farmers do not set the price of milk. The cost is set by the retailer.
Only a small portion of that cost goes towards the farmer. For example: From a $16.77 medium pizza at a restaurant, a Canadian dairy farmer earns about 60 cents. Image credit: about the differences between organic and conventional milk.
A conversation on milk prices 30-plus years ago has stayed with me, and current milk prices for dairy farmers brought it to mind. One of my very first paying jobs found me assisting a local dentist as he worked an emergency patient in to the schedule. A kick to the face while milking his herd of Holsteins one early morning caused a chipped tooth and the need for an X-ray and exam.
I had known this man and his family for years, as they represented family farming in a good light throughout the area. As we finished up the tooth repair, the farmer asked for a mirror. With a wink to me and a smile on his face, he said to my boss, “Yep, it looks pretty good, though I’m thinking it could be better.
“And my teeth aren’t as perfectly white as I’d like them to be, and the X-ray didn’t show much of anything, so I’m going to dock your price by about 40 percent today. Now, next time, I might be willing to pay you more. We’ll just have to wait and see.” Spirited exchange A spirited exchange ensued. This intelligent — and ornery — dairy farmer then explained. “Farmers are the only patients in your practice that are forced to buy retail and sell wholesale.” Just the day before, this fellow had sold his wheat crop, and because it had been a dry year, it wasn’t the clean wheat crop he typically sold.
The cash crop price was not at all what he expected, because he was docked for “this and that” — all factors out of his control. The price per bushel of wheat in 1980 was about $3.50. Irrelevant factors In essence, the conversation went something like this: “It didn’t matter how much my overhead is, or dang interest rates killing me, or the ridiculously high cost of fuel. It didn’t make one bit of difference that my grain head had to be replaced last month, costing far more than I ever thought I would have to pay. “Now, if I was a typical businessman, I would take my other commodities and increase the price of those to meet my bills. My other commodity is milk, though, and guess what?
I don’t have any control over how much it brings, either. “There is no way for me to roll my expenses, tweak the balance sheet and pass along all of my costs in order to break even.” He paid his bill that day, in full, with a grin and a grumble, saying he was going to the store to buy a loaf of whole wheat bread and couldn’t wait to see how much it cost per ounce. Realities of farming He made a very good case for the realities of farming, putting a face to the struggles of all farmers everywhere. At that time, there were numerous dairy farmers in every little community of this county, and in 1980 they earned $15 per hundredweight for their milk. At that time, they got about 50 percent of the retail price that consumers paid at the store.
Today, the base price for milk is $16 per hundredweight (roughly 9 gallons) and the farmer only sees about 25 percent of the retail price. Soaring inputs And the farmer still has no control over cash crop prices, as the input costs of doing business continue to soar.
Current wheat price is $3.93 a bushel. There are far fewer family dairy farms, not many farm kids working for free, and no hope of finding cheap labor like there was in 1980. Walk through any grocery store, and ask yourself why. With dairy farmers basically seeing 1980 prices, why is the price of milk in stores as high as it is? Why is cheese continuing to climb higher than it has ever been? Yogurt, ice cream, and kefir all cost consumers a pretty penny.
Add to the shopping cart a loaf of whole wheat bread and all of this would prompt anyone not connected to agriculture to think farmers are making a whole lot more money than they really are. Yes, the profit is in the processing. It is the most maddening part of this picture, though, that the processors can be far more profitable, their manufacturing more streamlined, than in 1980, while dairy farmers supply the primary ingredient for every bit of it and struggle to pay 2016 bills with 1980 prices.
Jaslyn Gilbert/HTR MILWAUKEE - Gina Stokes says she will keep fighting for her family’s dairy farm, where the cows have names, not numbers, and the land tugs at her heart. “There is no better place to raise my family,” Stokes said about her farm, near Omro, Wis., that she and her husband, Dan, have with their four children. “It’s a fair representation of what true life is,' Stokes said. 'I cannot expose my kids to anything more real than the struggles, the benefits and the responsibility we all take in it.” Wisconsin lost 500 dairy farms in 2017, and about 150 have quit milking cows so far this year, putting the total number of milk-cow herds at around 7,600 — down 20 percent from five years ago. Last month, more than 50 groups from across the country — including the Wisconsin Farmers Union, Family Farm Defenders and the National Family Farm Coalition — asked Congress for emergency relief from the deepening troubles on small dairy farms.
Among other things, they want the government to set a minimum price that farmers would get for their milk — at a break-even point of $20 per hundred pounds, or about 11 gallons, compared with $13 paid in some months of the downturn. Mark Hoffman / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel They’re seeking a milk supply management system to stabilize volatile markets.
And they’re asking the government to purchase surplus milk for use by emergency food providers, such as food pantries. Some of the solutions may seem extreme, but so is the crisis that’s rapidly eroding America’s rural economy and threatening families, according to the farm groups. “The milk checks are not covering the bills,” Stokes said of her family's dairy operation, which has about 75 cows. More: Family farms decimated by Wisconsin's dairy crisis More: Iconic Waterbury, Vt., dairy farm burns to the ground, killing all the animals More: Eating yogurt could lower your risk of heart attacks and stroke Yet there’s strength and defiance in her voice as she talks about the value of small family farms and why people in the city might buy more milk if they knew the stories behind them. “What you are going to find here is love.
Current Bulk Milk Prices For Farmers
You are going to find animals that are treated like our children and that get more pampering than the adults on this farm,” Stokes said. 'If I have to cut back on something to make sure the bills are paid, and say a few more prayers, that's what I'm going to do because I am a lifer in this business.' That last notion, at least, is often expressed by farmers searching for answers in a crisis that threatens their way of life as well as their livelihood.
Suicide worries in dairy country The situation has become so dire that dairy marketing cooperatives have started providing suicide hotline information to members along with milk checks. Yet critics say the proposals being put forth to save family diary farms could make matters worse. “I have always felt that the market is the best way to sort out the amount of milk required,” said Mike North, president of Commodity Risk Management Group in Platteville, Wis. Creating a minimum price, especially without supply management, could encourage farmers to ramp up milk production in a market already awash in it. “It’s a very temporary fix followed by the same headaches down the road,” North said. “Any time the government becomes the leading decision-maker of how much is produced, you immediately ruin a market.” Some of the farm groups cite Canada’s dairy system as an example of how milk supply management, coupled with price controls, has kept small farms in business. But Canada has its flaws, too, said Gordon Speirs, a former Canadian dairy farmer who now milks about 2,000 cows in Brillion, Wis.
“I can tell you that it doesn’t run as smoothly as they would like you to believe. Seemingly every year they are trying to change the rules to deal with overproduction or underproduction or meeting a quota,” Speirs said. “All of those things we have witnessed happening in the U.S. Are in fact also happening in Canada, just not as quickly.” Still, Speirs sympathizes with farmers’ complaints about the U.S. Government’s Dairy Margin Protection Program, which is kind of an insurance policy for farmers when their milk price plummets. “It’s like a safety net that is hanging five feet above the ground when you are jumping off the Sears Tower.
It’s not going to save you,” he said. 'Too damn good' Dairy farmers face tough decisions when milk prices are low because producing more lowers their cost on a per-unit basis but adds to the oversupply problem. Even as the number of dairy farms has fallen, milk production has soared from better cow genetics and improved livestock feed.
“We are just too damn good at what we do, as an industry,” said Speirs, who is on a committee of farmers advising Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative in Green Bay, Wis. Small farms say the milk surplus has crushed their market, even at some local cheese plants that used to buy from them, but now get cheaper milk trucked in from Michigan and other states. “We have non-farm income to keep us afloat, so far. But it feels like we’re one bad decision, or one bad weather event, from falling off the edge,” said Randy Wokatsch, a dairy farmer near Wausau, Wis. “Prices are already adjusting themselves,” said North, with Commodity Risk Management Group.
“That’s how these markets work. They ebb and they flow,” he said. Looking to supply and demand Not everyone agrees.
Some farm groups say the dairy industry is not a marketplace where the supply-and-demand equation sorts itself out naturally, because it’s driven by government policies. “It’s absurd to call it a free market,” said Kara O’Connor, government regulations director for Wisconsin Farmers Union. “Our nation’s supply of milk badly exceeds the demand,” O’Connor said. Most agriculture subsidies go to a few, but very large, agribusinesses, said U.S. Ron Kind (D-Wis.).
“Policy-makers have had their thumb on the scale, and unfortunately that scale has tilted away from our small and midsize farms for too long,” Kind said. The Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation, the state’s largest farm group, doesn’t favor a minimum milk price or a supply management system. There have been improvements made in the Dairy Margin Protection Program, and more changes are coming, said Kevin Krentz, a Farm Bureau board member with a 600-cow dairy farm in Waushara County. Farm Bureau says it supports growth in the export of dairy products, and increased consumption of milk domestically, as ways for the industry to work through the price slump. No government program is a “quick fix” for scores of dairy farms on the edge of shutting down, according to Krentz. “That is the sad part about this, but it’s the reality,” he said. Wokatsch and his wife, Kerry, milk 55 cows on their 330-acre farm.
He would like to see some type of supply management system included in the Dairy Margin Protection Program. “I believe we can turn things around, or if not, at least slow the current trend. But this can only happen if farmers and non-farmers become informed, engaged and work toward the goal of saving the legacy of Wisconsin’s family dairy farms,” Wokatsch said.
A conversation on milk prices 30-plus years ago has stayed with me, and current milk prices for dairy farmers brought it to mind. One of my very first paying jobs found me assisting a local dentist as he worked an emergency patient in to the schedule. A kick to the face while milking his herd of Holsteins one early morning caused a chipped tooth and the need for an X-ray and exam.
I had known this man and his family for years, as they represented family farming in a good light throughout the area. As we finished up the tooth repair, the farmer asked for a mirror. With a wink to me and a smile on his face, he said to my boss, “Yep, it looks pretty good, though I’m thinking it could be better. “And my teeth aren’t as perfectly white as I’d like them to be, and the X-ray didn’t show much of anything, so I’m going to dock your price by about 40 percent today. Now, next time, I might be willing to pay you more. We’ll just have to wait and see.” Spirited exchange A spirited exchange ensued. This intelligent — and ornery — dairy farmer then explained.
“Farmers are the only patients in your practice that are forced to buy retail and sell wholesale.” Just the day before, this fellow had sold his wheat crop, and because it had been a dry year, it wasn’t the clean wheat crop he typically sold. The cash crop price was not at all what he expected, because he was docked for “this and that” — all factors out of his control. The price per bushel of wheat in 1980 was about $3.50. Irrelevant factors In essence, the conversation went something like this: “It didn’t matter how much my overhead is, or dang interest rates killing me, or the ridiculously high cost of fuel.
It didn’t make one bit of difference that my grain head had to be replaced last month, costing far more than I ever thought I would have to pay. “Now, if I was a typical businessman, I would take my other commodities and increase the price of those to meet my bills. My other commodity is milk, though, and guess what? I don’t have any control over how much it brings, either.
“There is no way for me to roll my expenses, tweak the balance sheet and pass along all of my costs in order to break even.” He paid his bill that day, in full, with a grin and a grumble, saying he was going to the store to buy a loaf of whole wheat bread and couldn’t wait to see how much it cost per ounce. Realities of farming He made a very good case for the realities of farming, putting a face to the struggles of all farmers everywhere. At that time, there were numerous dairy farmers in every little community of this county, and in 1980 they earned $15 per hundredweight for their milk. At that time, they got about 50 percent of the retail price that consumers paid at the store. Today, the base price for milk is $16 per hundredweight (roughly 9 gallons) and the farmer only sees about 25 percent of the retail price. Soaring inputs And the farmer still has no control over cash crop prices, as the input costs of doing business continue to soar. Current wheat price is $3.93 a bushel.
Current Milk Prices For Dairy Farmers
There are far fewer family dairy farms, not many farm kids working for free, and no hope of finding cheap labor like there was in 1980. Walk through any grocery store, and ask yourself why. With dairy farmers basically seeing 1980 prices, why is the price of milk in stores as high as it is? Why is cheese continuing to climb higher than it has ever been? Yogurt, ice cream, and kefir all cost consumers a pretty penny. Add to the shopping cart a loaf of whole wheat bread and all of this would prompt anyone not connected to agriculture to think farmers are making a whole lot more money than they really are. Yes, the profit is in the processing.
Current Bulk Milk Prices For Farmers
It is the most maddening part of this picture, though, that the processors can be far more profitable, their manufacturing more streamlined, than in 1980, while dairy farmers supply the primary ingredient for every bit of it and struggle to pay 2016 bills with 1980 prices.