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Pressure rising in Ohio to stop using hormone
By Rick Armon
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Sunday, Jan 20, 2008
CANAAN TWP.: Dairy farmer Stanley Carmony is hot. His voice cracks with emotion.
He doesn't want to be forced to stop treating his 460 dairy cows with the artificial hormone rbST.
Not when the hormone helps a cow produce about a gallon more milk a day. Not when he realizes he'll have to buy more cows just to make the same amount of milk.
And certainly not when rbST, which mirrors the cow's natural hormone bST, has been declared safe by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
''We're getting shammed,'' Carmony said while sitting in a small office building at Carmony Farms Ltd.
Dairy farmers throughout Ohio are being pressured to stop using the hormone, which helps boost a cow's milk production by up to 15 percent. The market for milk from cows using the hormone is drying up because more dairies and retailers are seeking rbST-free milk, said Heather Schofield, a spokeswoman with Dairy Marketing Services and Dairy Farmers of America.
The two organizations aren't condemning the use of the technology, but just responding to their customers, she said.
Dairy Marketing Services, an organization that markets milk for about 575 independent producers in Ohio, has told farmers
that they must sign an affidavit promising not to use the hormone or it won't pick up their milk.
Meanwhile, Dairy Farmers of America has asked its nearly 790 members in the state to stop using rbST, although it will still attempt to market the milk.
The decision — along with a related debate by the Ohio Department of Agriculture on how to label rbST-free milk for the consumer — has created a firestorm of controversy in the dairy industry, especially in Wayne and Holmes counties, the largest milk-producing counties in the state.
Farmers have stepped forward to protest the move, which they say will lower production, eat into their profits and increase retail milk prices. If people are that concerned about rbST in their milk, they should buy organic milk as opposed to forcing farmers to stop using the hormone, many farmers said.
''The last thing we want to do is lose consumers because of the price being too high. And that's what I fear is going to happen,'' said John Douglass, who has about 1,600 cows at Catalpadale Farms near Marshallville.
Douglass, 46, and Carmony, 54, two of the area's most outspoken farmers, have signed the affidavit and quit using rbST.
They said they had no choice: It was that or risk losing the farm.
Douglass already is planning to add cows to make up the difference.
''I think most people will,'' he said. ''We all have to have cash flow. That's business. Eventually, the supply will go up as we expand our dairies, but it's going to take time.''
But there also are costs associated with increasing herds. More cows mean more manure and urine, and more environmental concerns, farmers said.
An increase in dairy herds would buck a nearly four-decade trend. The number of dairy cows in Ohio fell 38 percent to 274,000 between 1971 and 2006, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service. But milk production has remained about the same thanks to new technology, including rbST.
Today, an average dairy cow will produce about 17,737 pounds of milk a year. Thirty-five years ago, a cow produced 10,177.
Farmers to get premium
Farmers will be paid a premium — at least for a little while — for not using rbST.
Dairy Marketing Services and Dairy Farmers of America intend to pay farmers a premium estimated at between 25 cents and 35 cents per 100 pounds of milk. (A gallon of milk is more than 8 pounds.)
Farmers are expected to start seeing the extra pay for milk shipped after Feb. 1. But the premium could be eliminated at any time, according to the affidavit.
Many farmers suspect their premium will disappear. Farmers, dairies, retailers or the consumer then will have to eat the costs associated with producing more milk, and special shipping and handling for milk from cows treated with rbST and those that aren't, they said.
Many farmers also are angered because there is no scientific test for rbST in milk and no one will police its use. Consumers purchasing rbST-free milk at the store cannot be guaranteed that they are really getting what they are paying for, some farmers said.
And there can be a significant difference in price at the store.
The cost of a gallon of store-brand milk at Acme last week was $3.69. The cost of the Smith's rbST-free milk was $4.99 (not counting the sale price).
Meanwhile, Buehler's Food Markets was charging $3.59 for a gallon of its 2 percent store-brand milk and $3.99 for Smith's rbST-free milk (again, not counting sale prices).
Not all farmers upset
Not all farmers are upset with the loss of rbST, though.
Only about 15 percent of farmers nationwide use the hormone. In general, though, the larger farms are more likely to use rbST, so experts estimate that more than half the dairy cows are treated with the hormone.
All farmers — even those who never used the hormone — will share in the premium for their milk because of the complicated way cooperatives reimburse farmers for milk.
''For the small farmers, it's going to help us,'' said Kevin Lee, 47, who milks about 225 cows at his Lee Dairy Farms near Magnolia in Carroll County.
Lee, who has milked cows for about four years, has never used the hormone. He said he questions the effect of pesticides and artificial hormones in America's food.
''We're trying to do it naturally,'' Lee said. ''We're not trying to push our cows.''
But he also wonders how long he will benefit from the premium.
''If they can get away without paying it, they will,'' he said.
Rick Armon can be reached at 330-996-3569 or rarmon@thebeaconjournal.com.
CANAAN TWP.: Dairy farmer Stanley Carmony is hot. His voice cracks with emotion.
Get the full article here.
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