Ag group warns cranky Collin

February 26, 2019

As his party moves further and further left, cranky Collin Peterson can’t seem to focus on being a leader in agriculture for Minnesota.

Pro-Ag, who recommended cranky Collin to be Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, just warned Peterson he must “divorce himself from what some of his members are advocating and concentrate on doing more for dairy farmers.”

“Where are our agriculture leaders in Washington?” Pro-Ag asked. (We’ve been asking the same thing).

But instead of focusing on dairy farmers, who are committing suicide at an alarmingly high rate, cranky Collin remains distracted by his socialist colleagues as they advocate for abolishing farting cows, raise money for terrorists and legalize infanticide.

ICYMI…

Letter: Dairy farmers can’t last much longer
Onedia Daily Dispatch
Arden Tweksbury, Manager of Pro-Ag
February 25, 2019
https://www.oneidadispatch.com/opinion/letter-dairy-farmers-can-t-last-much-longer/article_c1193702-3931-11e9-825c-cf4477b9a006.html

The question is very simple: How much longer can the average dairy farmer endure their ongoing financial hardships?

Pennsylvania dairy farmers are being short-changed at least $550 million each year, and New York dairy farmers are facing a $650 million shortfall. Our figures indicate the total underpayments to all U.S. dairy farmers each year are approximately $12 billion.

I receive calls all the time about horrible the situation is on the average dairy farm. I hear women crying, I’ve heard of suicides, and on and on it goes. I can’t believe members of Congress, other farm organizations, and even our dairy cooperatives are not receiving these kinds of calls. We have petitioned the dairy division of the USDA to have milk hearings. These requests have been denied. We have urged Congress to have several hearings involving hundreds of dairy farmers. Unfortunately, these attempts have been in vain.

Earlier in 2018, the US House Ag Committee held a hearing in Washington, D.C. I was told all the spots were taken and I was not allowed to testify. I drove to Washington and passed out testimony to committee members. Dang, they did not lie. The two spots they had were taken by Dr. Dykes of IDFA, and Jim Mulhearn from National Milk Producers. Yes, there were two spots, but not one for any dairy farmer! What a sham.

We have thousands of petitions to take to US Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, urging him to have immediate hearings for dairy farmers.

Several agri-businesses that serve dairy farmers are having problems getting refinancing, just like the dairy farmers are experiencing. We heard some dairy farmers shipping to a dairy co-op in the Northeast received a 60 day notice to find a new market. What the devil is going to happen next?

What about the present administration? They may have helped many people, but they sure haven’t helped dairy farmers.

We must ask, where are our agriculture leaders in Washington? Where is Sen. Leahey, and where is our friend Sen. Bob Casey? And what has happened to good ole Sen. Bernie Sanders? He was always going to fight for the dairy farmers. Where is Sen. Gillibrand? I thought she was supposed to be the champion for dairy farmers. What happened to her?

What about the Chairman of the Senate Ag Committee, Sen. Pat Roberts? He promised me he would always stand up for dairy farmers.

Now we have Rep. Collin Peterson, Chair of the House Ag Committee. Pro-Ag recommended Peterson for the Chairmanship. We believe Peterson is a good man for dairy farmers, but he must divorce himself from what some of his members are advocating and concentrate on doing more for dairy farmers.

Time is running out, and with spring around the corner and nothing being done, you may witness hundreds or thousands of dairy farmers forced out of business. These problems are also effecting our beef farmers.

These conditions, all these problems, will be something for our leaders to bear on their conscience.