A group of 61 members of the U.S. Senate and House have sent a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack asking him to take action to raise prices dairies across the country are paid for their milk.
“We write today to express our concern about the troubling economic challenges facing U.S. dairy farmers and the entire U.S. dairy industry,” states the letter sent Thursday by lawmakers that included California Sen. Barbara Boxer and Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno.
Milk prices have been on a decline nationally since 2009, though they did peak briefly to record-high levels in 2014 before declining again.
“In California, milk production has been in decline for more than 18 months, and dairies across the state continue to close,” California Dairy Campaign President Joe Augusto said in a press release in which he commended the lawmakers for their bipartisan action.
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