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March 4, 2002 The Honorable Larry Combest Dear Chairman Combest: Our organizations join in urging conferees to reject efforts that would bring back, and possibly expand the use of interstate dairy compacts to price milk. Both the House and Senate passed their respective farm bills without inclusion of dairy compacts. If such legislation becomes part of the final farm bill, it would enable a totally arbitrary and higher milk price to be set, region by region, disrupting the free flow of milk and milk products at competitive prices. The failure of the Northeast Compact experiment makes revisiting the idea impossible to justify. This "milk tax" makes milk less affordable, especially for working families and children, and encourages excess milk production which is sold to the government under the dairy price support program. At the same time, the evidence in New England proved that farm numbers continued to decline, even with higher dairy compact prices in place. Perhaps the most distressing aspect of dairy compacts is that they undermine the basic tenets of interstate commerce and pose a real threat of higher costs, not only for milk but for all sorts of goods. Interstate compacts were intended for cooperative efforts among states like building the Metro system in D.C., Virginia and Maryland, not to wall off competition between states and regions. We support policies that encourage growth of all segments of the food chain, from farm to table, and provide competitively priced products to consumers. As a conferee, we urge you to oppose any effort to provide Congressional consent for the use of interstate compacts to set milk prices. Sincerely, Coalition for Fair Milk Prices
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