You know it’s been happening and is STILL happening. Milk is continuing to be dumped in the state of Wisconsin. Despite what we’ve seen, the stories dairy farmers have told us – there has been no official milk dumping reports filed by farmers with the Wisconsin Department Of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. That’s the word from Interim Ag Secretary, Randy Romanski. In a conversation with Pam Jahnke and the Midwest Farm Report Friday morning – they have literally received zero reports of milk being dumped!
Romanski says they’re finding it incredibly difficult to get actual numbers on how much milk has been dumped, and continues to be dumped in the state. He’s working with federal officials to try to trace back, but it may take weeks if not months to get an accurate picture.
This comes at the same time that WDATCP and Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin (DFW) announced they were temporarily lifting the state dairy checkoff assessment on milk dumped from May 14th forward until the Covid-19 pandemic is officially lifted.
Chad Vincent, CEO of Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin, told Pam Jahnke that the attempt at getting the state assessment lifted began weeks ago, but due to the complex nature of the legislation and rules involved – it’s taken more time then they wanted. “Nobody wants to collect an assessment on milk that doesn’t make it to the market,” Vincent said. “It is incredibly difficult to get laws changed, regulations changed – modified. This is not my world, but boy, it is incredibly complicated and we’re just fortunate to have the perseverance of folks at DATCP that helped us figure out a way to get this done.”
Any farmers, processors, or haulers that may have questions – please direct them all to Patrick Geoghegan at DFW: (608) 203-7230, [email protected]
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