Around 150 New York dairy famers as well as hundreds of others around the country, held a „Dump the Milk“ protest on July 4, 2010 to highlight the problem of low milk prices. West Winfield farmers Dave and Robin Fitch helped to organise „the Fourth of July Take Back Your Independence Day Dump“ where dairy famers nationwide were asked to participate and dump that day's produced milk. The milk farmers are becoming increasingly frustrated with the current situation. The aim of the one day protest was to highlight their plight to the United States Department of Agriculture, which sets the minimum price for milk producers.
Federal authorities are currently working on milk price regulation, but the next Farm Bill, which governs the agricultural policy in the U.S., is not expected until 2012. In the U.S., the Congress votes on the Farm Bill while the Executive just implements the law. However the Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture, Collin Peters, took the initiative to engage the dialogue early on the next bill. Thus 8 proposals of dairy market reform will be soon debated in the Congress. The various bills presented by senators are bills from Democrats or Republicans with the support of national organisations from producers or cooperatives or dairies. Big and small farmers feel that they cannot make a living from the current price of milk. A huge debate is ongoing to determine the future of the milk market and what to do to help milk producers.
