As far as staples go, dairy is pretty central to the American diet. After all, knowing the cost of a gallon of milk remains a campaign-trail test for whether a politician is out of touch. Dairy farmers, though, have fallen on hard times, as milk sales continue to decline.
But now, industry insiders in a long-running class action claim those farmers haven’t been getting their fair share in this multi-billion dollar industry. The litigation, filed by dairy farmers in 2009, names DairyAmerica and its affiliate California Dairies as defendants. The plaintiffs allege that DairyAmerica and its members, cooperatives like California Dairies which acquire dairy products from farmers and sell them in bulk, have been actively misleading U.S. regulators about the price they charge for nonfat dry milk, which goes into everything from infant formula to candy bars. In doing so, the farmers claim, the cooperatives sought to boost profits at their expense—by millions of dollars.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: Bloomberg
