You put it on your cereal, pack it with your kids, add it to your coffee and use it to make sauces.  It comes in a variety of flavors and colors.  Yes it’s milk!  Skip the annoying commercials (who’s getting paid for those anyway) and let’s talk about economics.

On December 3rd over 100 dairy farmers traveled to speak with congress “to demand justice and overhaul a broken milk pricing system,” said Joel Greeno of Kendall, Wisconsin. What’s wrong with the pricing of milk, you ask?

It’s actually relatively complicated.  Milk goes through three stages: farmer, processor, and vendor.  The farmers have the cows and milk them.  They then sell this raw milk to processors who pasteurize and package the milk.  You see milk at the third stage, in the refrigerated section of your grocery store.

Dairy farmers are getting the short end of the stick, they’re being paid less than ever for milk that’s costing more and more to produce.  This is disproportionately affecting small farmers, who are having a hard time surviving.  The USDA estimates that farmers spend $18 per 100 pounds of milk, but they’re only getting back about $10 of that money.

There are several reasons for this gap.  Milk prices are nationally regulated by the federal milk market order.  This market however, doesn’t take into account regional differences at all, and is based on international supply and demand.  Farmers have no voice in the prices they can charge.  This means that if there’s a bad month, and they were only able to produce 10 gallons of milk, they have to sell those 10 gallons for the same price as when they produce and sell 100 gallons.

What can you do to support dairy farmers?  First, educate yourself about the issue.  Business Week and NPR both have good articles about what’s going on and how the economics of milk are changing.  As a consumer, usually you can use your purchasing power to make change.  This is one of the few cases where it’s difficult to effect change simply by changing your purchasing habits.  What you can do is what none of us really likes to do.  Call your  Congressman and tell them you support fair prices for dairy farmers.  Or, for a more personal approach, find a dairy farm near you and get them connected to the National Family Farm Coalition and Farm Aid who sent the 100 farmers to Washington on December 3rd.