Sen.
Tom Berryhill:
‘Thought
we had an Agreement”
on Dairy Pricing Issues
Source: Western United Dairyman
The proposal had two basic tenets.
First, there would be emergency price relief for up to one year in an amount
of no more than $.46 to be assigned to Class 4b milk. This would have
replaced the existing emergency price relief. Second, the sliding scale
used to value whey in the Class 4b formula would be restructured to result in
a new ceiling of $1.00 per cwt. contributed to Class 4b, achievable at
current market prices.
That deal unraveled this week when
CDFA Secretary Karen Ross issued a decision on a petition filed by Western
United Dairymen, California Dairies, Inc., Milk Producers Council and
California Dairy Campaign. Ross wrote, “I understand there will be disappointment
with this decision in light of the publicity surrounding the perceived
agreement between producers and processors during the legislative session.
However, the Department was not jointly petitioned by producers and
processors – only some producers – and when questioned by the hearing panel,
processors responded that there was no agreement.”
In an interview this week with Western
United Dairymen, Berryhill said, “I thought we did come to an agreement with
the Dairy Institute about a dairy pricing mechanism that would allow my guys
to stay in business.”
Referring to fellow Ag Committee
members Sen. Anthony Cannella (R-Ceres) and Chair Cathleen Galginai
(D-Stockton), Berryhill pointed out, “The three of us thought there was an
agreement. On the processor side they did not want to give anything. I
thought it (the deal) was a happy middle ground. We all thought we had a deal
that day and were very surprised to come back (after summer recess) and find
everything had fallen out.”
Referring to Secretary Ross’ decision,
Berryhill said, “Karen has made her decision to kick this can down the road
to June. We will have to live with that and it will put us back to the
drawing board. We will have to sit down and talk some more.”
 |
| The Decision by Sec. Ross will lead to more closed dairies, and devastation to families, who for many generations, were able to make a good living. |
Looking ahead, Berryhill says he
remains committed to finding a solution. “Kicking that can down the road
doesn’t help anyone. Any decision we come to, both sides will be mad at me.
Those processors don’t want to give anything up. The producers out there are
really challenged and we are trying to keep them sustainable and working.”
Gov. Brown has not actively engaged on
the pricing issue and Berryhill’s feeling is, “He would like to see this
thing worked out on its own. I don’t think it will be able to. At some point
in time he will have to insert himself. I’ve found him to be a very pragmatic
guy and many times willing to do the right thing.”
What does the future hold for pricing
legislation? Berryhill says, “You are going to see this thing resurface for
sure - - I don’t see this issue going away.”