Milk Regulatory Equity Act of 2005

MILK REGULATORY EQUITY ACT OF 2005 -- (House of Representatives - March 28, 2006)

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Mrs. SCHMIDT. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 2120, the Milk Regulatory Equity Act, which would amend an outdated regulatory exemption within the Federal milk marketing order. I commend Chairman Goodlatte and the gentleman from California (Mr. Nunes), the author of the bill, for their work in moving this legislation forward.

Years ago, the United States Department of Agriculture exempted small producer handler dairy farmers from regulation because they owned and milked their own cows and sold their own products directly to local consumers. Today, some of these unregulated producer handlers collect U.S. Government subsidies and have grown to be among the largest dairy processors in the country with significant market shares.

This is an unfair advantage, and this exemption can adversely affect the prices other farmers receive. Consumers also suffer as unregulated producer handlers eliminate competition. This bill eliminates the loophole that allows now large producer handler operations to be unregulated and requires equal application of the law. It still allows family producer handlers to be exempted if their product is less than 3 million pounds per month.

I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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