1st The article misses a number of pricey “hidden subsidies” that cost at least as much as direct price support. For example: “free” USDA research programs, the “free” agricultural extension service, “free” educational services and research in the land-grant universities [in addition to ag extension], “free” dairy promotions, and so on.
2nd, NZ and Aussie farmers can’t produce Milk for <1/2 of what our farmers can do. The actual $ number is more like 70% of the cost, however, since there has never really been any competitive pressure on the US dairy industry we don’t really know. There are definitely US producers who can produce milk more efficiently than they can in New Zeeland, but they don’t need to, because, as the article correctly points out, we have a socialist dairy economy.
3rd, It isn’t true that corporate farms produce milk more cheaply or more efficiently than family operations. The truth is that in a competitive environment, family farms would not be going out of business. But, since subsidies favor those with high raw production, [who already benefit form economies of scale] we are killing our family farms with the very subsidies that are supposed to protect them, and finally,
4th. the post fails to address the fundamental problem with subsidies of any kind: they hurt everyone. They hurt consumers, yes. They hurt taxpayers, yes. But they hurt dairy farmers more than any other group. Subsidies always do the most harm to the very people who’ve been hoodwinked into believing they’re beneficiaries. If the subsidies would end, about 50-60% of our least efficient farmers would go out of business. This would not only lower costs to consumers, but it would allow those who remained to actually make some money. What the article doesn’t tell you is that the dairy economy is tremendously depressed and has been so for more than 15 years because there are so many bad businessmen, hobby farmers, and just incredibly under-educated people on the [agricultural] public dole. Keeping them there depresses prices and drives good farmers out of business.
Yet, I can’t tell you how many FFA, 4H, DHIA and Holstein Association dinners that I’ve attended over the last 30 years where farmers and farmer’s wives have berated me for being against subsidies. When I point out to them that there have been numerous studies [including an excellent one just recently by the Heritage Foundation] that prove that subsidies hurt dairymen, they simply don’t believe it.
Why is Social Security the 3rd rail of American politics? For the same reason. Because you can't convince old people that Social Security is damaging them. But it is. And price supports, federal milk marketing, and all the rest, are destroying our diarymen as well.
I'm a computer programmer who's been unemployed for 13 months. I've finally found a job in another field which has a future. It's been a miserable year and I'm suffering financially; but economically it makes sense for the country.
The fact is that there are too many programmers, wages are dropping, and so some of us need to get out. Imagine if the government paid companies to keep programmers on staff even if there wasn't any necessary programming to be done.
Sure, my life would have been a lot easier this past year, but thousands of dollars would have been diverted from potentially productive use.
My dear old Dad was actually a lobbyist in Albany for upstate dairymen and is no doubt rolling over in his grave for my saying this, but it is well past time for the government to drop these price supports and regulations.
As you alluded to, the dairymen in upstate NY are still barely scraping by, their numbers continue to drop -- and the successful still benefit from the subsidies.