Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda

NEW!

Subscribe to receive notifications of new Co-Sponsorship Memos circulated

By Member | By Date | Keyword Search

Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2017 - 2018 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted:	June 4, 2018 10:23 AM
From:	Senator Judith L. Schwank
To:	All Senate members
Subject:	Assistance for Pennsylvania Dairy Industry

In the near future I will be introducing a resolution directing the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee identify and examine the statutes, best practices and proposed measures of other States to provide assistance to dairy producers during these economic times. Years of lower milk prices and decreasing sales of packaged beverage milk products have placed dairy producers in the Commonwealth under severe financial stress. Many of the dairy producers in the Commonwealth are forced to borrow against the equity in their farms to continue the dairy operations. Due to these factors, the typical response to low milk producer prices, increasing production to increase the revenue, no longer provides sufficient economic relief, and overall may add to any milk surplus, adversely affecting the prices that the producer receives; and many dairy producers are forced to leave dairy production due to the financial stress. Some states have implemented assistance measures such as tax credits, which may provide minimal short-term relief but deliver no long-term solutions. The Legislative Budget and Finance Committee will also identify the number and types of specialty dairy products, such as lactose free milk, that are sold in the Commonwealth by out of state dairy producers and examine how milk produced in the Commonwealth can be utilized to meet the increased demand for this specialty dairy products market.

---