510 S. 31st Street • P.O. Box 8736 • Camp
Hill, PA 17001-8736 • (717) 761-2740 • www.pfb.com
CONTACT: Mark O’Neill, Media Relations Director, (717) 761-2740 or e-mail
For Immediate Release: June 18, 2009
(Harrisburg) – In a decision that supports the position of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau (PFB), the Pennsylvania Milk Marketing Board (PMMB) has maintained the Class I over-order premium price of milk at $2.15 per hundredweight for the six-month period beginning July 1, 2009.
“We believe the PMMB recognized the negative impact dairy farmers across Pennsylvania are currently facing with dramatic decreases in the price they are paid for milk, combined with high production costs,” said PFB President Carl T. Shaffer.
During testimony earlier this month, PFB said the continuation of the current price was a necessity as dairy farmers struggle to survive during a global economic recession.
“Dairy farmers are experiencing a significant drop in the price we receive for our milk. On my farm, the gross value of my milk check decreased nearly 40%, plummeting from $21.06 per hundredweight in April 2008 to $12.86 per hundredweight in April 2009,” said PFB Vice President Richard Ebert, who is a Westmoreland County dairy farmer and chairman of PFB’s Dairy Committee.
PFB noted that practical market limitations related to conditions outside Pennsylvania impede the PMMB from approving an over-order premium higher than the $2.15 per hundredweight of milk, even though a higher premium would help ease some pressure on dairy producers.
Farm Bureau commended the PMMB for keeping in place its current premium price add-on for fuel costs. Dairy farmers whose milk is produced, processed and sold in Pennsylvania for Class I use (fluid milk) receive an additional premium based on the cost of fuel.
Pennsylvania Farm Bureau is the state’s largest farm organization with a volunteer membership of more than 44,000 farm and rural families, representing farms of every size and commodity across Pennsylvania.
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