Vilsack speaking at Wednesday's meeting in Las Cruces. (Photo by Ernie Watson/USDA)
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack heard complaints on Wednesday from dairy farmers about the need for changes in the system, the Las Cruces Sun-News is reporting.
Sharon Lombardi, director of the Diary Producers of New Mexico, told Vilsack during a community meeting in Las Cruces that the industry needs a new pricing formula and complained that some new policies hurt the industry. As an example, she said the promotion of crops in biofuel production have driven up costs and hurt dairy farmers.
Vilsack, according to the Sun-News, said he’s “not sold on the notion that biofuels are driving feed costs up.”
“I look at the number of acres planted, and I look at productivity and I look at exports, and I look at grain available for feed, and I look at whether biofuels have taken grains from any of those categories,” the newspaper quoted him as saying. “If they have, I’d assume that we’d see less exports, feed available, but we don’t see any of that.”
Still, the agriculture secretary acknowledged difficulties for dairy farmers. While he said his department is working on short-term ways to address that reality, the Sun-News quoted him as saying “we need a long-term solution.”
“It’s a boom-and-bust cycle; that makes it extremely difficult for farmers,” the Sun-News quoted Vilsack as saying.
At the meeting, attended by more than 300 people, Vilsack also talked about federal funding that’s available because of the stimulus bill. Afterward, he said in a news release that the meeting was a success.
“It is critically important to hear the thoughts, concerns and stories about New Mexico’s vision for
its future and to collect ideas about how USDA can better serve these communities,” Vilsack said. “The thoughts, ideas and concerns for the future I heard in Las Cruces were a reminder of the strength and optimism I have seen in communities throughout rural America.”