Charlie Seidel, a dairy farmer from Berks County, testified this morning before the PA Milk Marketing Board on behalf of the PA State Grange.  “The Grange is asking the PA Milk Marketing Board to set the over-order premium at $1.95 per hundredweight, or a 30 cent increase,” Seidel told the Board.

Mr. Seidel, a long-time Grange member, milks 47 registered Holstein cows and farms 120 acres where he grows corn and alfalfa.  He ships 2,500 pounds of milk per day with an annual herd average of 20,000 pounds per cow.  “Because my milk is produced, processed, and sold in PA,” Seidel told the board, “I directly receive the PA Milk Marketing Board over-order premium.”

He went on to tell the Board, “Milk production costs have escalated. My cost for soybean meal has increased from approximately $300 per ton in December to around $330 per ton currently.  Corn prices have also risen from approximately $2.80 per bushel last December to around $3.50 today.  Seidel explained that, due to increased production costs, it is necessary for him to use last year’s poor quality hay, which in turn reduces milk production in his herd.  He said that “A new significant factor in my milk check is the negative differential that I am experiencing as a result of the current cheese price.”

“While the media has been reporting that the farmers are experiencing record high prices for their milk,” he said, “they have conveniently forgotten to mention that a dairy farmer’s net income is not as high as the retail price of milk suggests.”

He quoted statistics from the Agricultural Statistics Service Special Dairy Report of April, 2004 which show that milk production in Pennsylvania is down 5.7 percent for the first quarter of this year, in part, due to a reduction in the total number of milk cows of 24,000 cows.  Seidel told the Board, “In Berks County alone large numbers of herds have sold out…many farmers are still playing catch up because of last year’s record low milk prices,” he said. “They are still paying for last year’s fertilizer, seeds, and spray.  As a result, many dairy farmers are feeling that they are just digging the hole deeper and finding it harder to climb out.”

Due to these factors, Seidel said, “The Grange strongly urges you to raise the current over-order premium to $1.95 per hundredweight.”

The Grange is a family fraternal organization dedicated to the betterment of rural America through community service, education, legislation and fellowship.  It is the oldest agricultural organization of its kind in the United States.  York and Adams County are home to five different Local Granges.  There are approximately 340 Locally Granges throughout the Commonwealth with a total membership of about 16,000.  For more information on the Grange, call 1-800-552-3865.