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Do IT this week: Layering
More consumers are buying organic and fewer area dairy farmers are using rbST on their herds. But with decreased production, who will pay the added cost?
By Rick Armon
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Sunday, Jan 20, 2008
Michael Byun didn't hesitate as he reached the grocery store milk aisle.
He grabbed a gallon of Smith's 2 percent milk with the words ''rbST-Free'' and ''free of artificial growth hormones'' featured prominently on the label.
Even though it costs about $1 more, he's willing to pay extra.
''It's that or organic,'' the 33-year-old Akron resident said last week during a visit to Acme in West Akron.
With more customers seeking out organic and natural products, the Ohio dairy industry is responding with a major milk reformation. Soon, all the store-brand milk sold at Acme Fresh Markets, Giant Eagle and Kroger groceries will come from cows not treated with rbST, an artificial hormone that helps the animals produce more milk.
Fishers Foods in Stark County already has converted all its milk.
The consumer won't notice a difference in taste — there is none. Or a difference in health risks — there are none, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. But they may see a difference in price, at least in the short term as the supply of milk dips because farmers are no longer using the hormone.
''If anybody believes there's no cost to this, they've missed Economics 101,'' said Dr. Normand St-Pierre, an associate professor in the Department of Animal Sciences at Ohio State University. ''Somebody is losing in this and consumers are one of them.''
Hormone declared safe
Recombinant bovine somatotropin,
better known as rbST, was declared safe by the FDA in 1993 after studies showed it posed no harm to humans.
The artificial hormone — sold under the brand name Posilac by Monsanto Co. of St. Louis — is virtually identical to a natural hormone in dairy cows. Farmers use rbST because it helps cows produce up to 15 percent more milk a day, or about a gallon more.
A survey by the U.S. Department of Agriculture last year found that about 15 percent of U.S. dairy farms use rbST. Those are generally larger farms.
Some consumer advocacy groups have been attacking the use of the hormone ever since it was approved, saying it's unhealthy for the cows and questioning the potential health effect on humans. Canada and the European Union — despite concluding it's safe for human consumption — have banned it for animal welfare reasons.
The public has been duped into believing the hormone isn't safe, according to many farmers and dairy experts.
''There are some key words in today's society that have become scary and 'hormone' is one of those,'' St-Pierre said. ''It doesn't make sense.''
Demand increasing
With an increased demand by grocers for rbST-free milk, dairy cooperatives and marketing organizations are pushing farmers to stop using the hormone.
Dairy Marketing Services, a milk marketing organization, has gone so far as to order its Ohio farmers to sign affidavits promising not to treat their cows with rbST. And the Dairy Farmers of America has asked its members not to use the hormone. Together, they serve more than 1,300 dairy farmers in the state.
Those moves have resulted in a huge controversy in the Ohio farming community, particularly in Wayne and Holmes counties, the largest milk-producing counties in the state.
Milk prices likely to rise
Dairy experts agree that milk prices will probably rise with the expected fall in milk production.
It also will cost more for the dairy cooperatives and dairies to gather and produce rbST-free milk — if some farmers decide to keep using the hormone. The two milks cannot be mixed, meaning separate trucks would be needed, increasing fuel costs, and manufacturing equipment will have to be cleaned more often at the dairies.
The question is, who will pay those added costs?
Many farmers believe it will be themselves and the consumer.
The Dairy Marketing Services and Dairy Farmers of America — which handle about 30 percent of the nation's milk — insist they are responding to their customers: the dairies.
The dairies insist they are responding to their customers: the retailers.
Some retailers insist they are responding to their customers: the consumer.
Customer demand factor
''They are responding to their customer demand the same way as we are responding to our customer demand,'' said Heather Schofield, a local spokeswoman for the Dairy Marketing Service and Dairy Farmers of America, which have a joint regional office in Fairlawn.
All Grade A milk dairies — those making milk for stores — have requested rbST-free milk and there are now limited opportunities to sell conventional milk from cows still treated with the hormone, she said.
Both Acme and Giant Eagle said their store brands will come from cows not getting rbST within the next few weeks. Kroger also has announced its milk will be rbST-free by Feb. 1.
''We put products in our stores that people want to buy,'' Acme spokesman Jim Trout said. ''That's what we do in retail. We try to respond to customers' needs.''
Acme will continue to sell conventional milk from cows treated with the hormone, under the Smith's Dairy brand.
Both Superior Dairy in Canton, which supplies milk to Fishers Foods, and Smith's Dairy in Orrville, which produce a line of rbST-free milk for Acme and Buehler's Food Markets, said they've received calls asking for rbST-free milk as far back as 1993, when the FDA approved the hormone.
''Some people absolutely prefer it and we cannot ignore the people who consume our products,'' said Dan Soehnlen, president of Superior Dairy.
But Cameron Thraen, an associate professor of agricultural, environmental and development economics at Ohio State University, questioned whether consumers really want rbST-free milk.
Consumer studies often ask leading questions that guarantee people will say they are scared of hormones and rbST, he said. The real test is on the grocery shelves, he said.
''The sales of that stuff are terrible,'' Thraen said. ''I'm a common-sense guy. If consumers were clamoring for that, all the milk that wasn't so labeled would be sitting on the shelves past its sales date. And the (rbST-free) side would be empty.''
Customers won't stand for higher milk prices, he said. The average price for a gallon of 2 percent milk in the Cleveland area rose from $2.71 to $3.30 last year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Thraen buys his milk at Kroger in the Columbus area and he said he will take his grocery shopping elsewhere if the price increases.
But rbST-free milk doesn't necessarily cost more.
Fishers Foods, which has seven stores in Stark County, has offered only rbST-free milk for at least the last six months. The grocer used to charge a premium for its rbST-free milk, but now that all of the milk in the store is rbST-free, there is no extra cost, President Jeff Fisher said.
New labels in the works
Fishers Foods and Superior Dairy are working on new labels to promote the milk.
Fisher said he hasn't heard much feedback from customers.
''There is a lot of consumer confusion about it,'' he said. ''But those consumers who want (rbST-free milk) seem to be very vocal about it.''
Wooster-based Buehler's, which has 13 stores in Northeast and Central Ohio, has no plans to switch its store-brand milk. It offers conventional milk and the Smith's rbST-free brand.
''We have not heard from customers,'' said Mary McMillen, director of consumer affairs for the grocer. ''It's been an issue in the media, but we have not heard much at the store level. We've been proactive. We've had both varieties on the shelves and we've let our customers make the choice.''
Sales of rbST-free milk at Buehler's account for less than 2 percent of total milk sales, she said.
Customers look for sales
Several customers buying milk at Acme in West Akron last week said price is a determining factor in where they shop. They said they go where the milk is on sale.
Many also said they are concerned about hormones and chemicals in their food, but they knew little about the rbST controversy.
''It depends on what the hormones do,'' said Elsie Hardway, 69, of Akron. ''We don't need anything to make us crazier.''
At the same time, she's not in favor of paying more for milk.
''It's too high now,'' she said.
Rick Armon can be reached at 330-996-3569 or rarmon@thebeaconjournal.com.
Michael Byun didn't hesitate as he reached the grocery store milk aisle.
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