The farmers are dumping milk, it could be made into government cheese.

[Texaswitchy]

Buy the milk from the farmers.

We have places that make cheese.

Simple.

[Xipe Totec]

1. Already being done. Already at capacity. nt

[SWBTATTReg]

2. I wondered about this dumping of milk, why not make it into cheese, etc., and here you...

said that it's already being done! Wow. What about perhaps converting to dried milk/powdered milk?

[Xipe Totec]

3. Done too. The Government has been buying surplus milk for decades

And storing it as cheese and powdered milk to prop up prices.

But all that is at capacity.

Dumping the milk is an act of last resort.

[ohtransplant]

6. Hmmm...

So we have farmers dumping milk, government already buying it and at capacity for storing cheese and powdered milk...

Why not give these staples to the poor, unemployed and underemployed as was done in the past?

The food is needed by those most effected and it would free up "capacity" for the government to continue buying the farmers' milk.

Seems like a win-win. Am I missing something?

[Xipe Totec]

9. Already done too

Last year (2018), the USDA bought $50 million worth of surplus milk and gave it to food banks.

https://reason.com/2019/03/02/thanks-to-decades-of-government-meddling/

[ohtransplant]

13. We both know that's a drop in the bucket

and doesn't come close to addressing the situation at hand. Right now there's an abundant need among poor people, unemployed, underemployed, who could really use that food and it costs the government money to store it.

Also from the article you site

"In 2016, I wrote a column focusing on U.S. government purchases of surplus dairy products, which were intended to address the same "combination of overproduction and low commodity prices" that we see today. The agency was busy buying 11 million lbs. of surplus cheese that year. That sounds impressive (impressively wasteful?) until you consider that at the time, more than 1.2 billion lbs. of surplus cheese were sitting around in U.S. warehouses."

[Xipe Totec]

15. I'm sure this would have the support of every Democrat, but try getting it passed by McConnel nt

[ohtransplant]

17. I don't measure my empathy for those in need by what that curmudgeon would support.

A giveaway would be a win-win for every politician up for election this year.

As a bonus, it would also be a great proposal to expose any politician who doesn't want to help those who are hurting in their state and/or district.

There are plenty of voters hurting right now, whether in urban or rural areas who would be well served.

[Xipe Totec]

19. Find a way, then, that works despite McConnell's opposition. nt

[ohtransplant]

23. Thanks for the civil discussion.

I'll be calling my elected reps on the state and count levels on Monday. I may even call some food banks and shelters to gauge support for an idea like this.

It just bugs me that it's so easy to find reasons not to help when we only need one reason to do something. (In general - NOT aimed at you..)

Peace XT.

[Xipe Totec]

24. Just because I don't brag about it doesn't mean I'm not doing anything

I don't hunger for approval.

[ohtransplant]

27. Not suggesting you do.

(just edited a typo in my post)

Peace

[FBaggins]

21. I think what you're missing is that dairy farmers aren't necessarily stupid

You see them dumping and hate the waste and assume that there must be something better to do with it. But that just isn't always the case. Not all milk production is the same (e.g., a dairy producing raw milk for cheese can't donate the milk to the poor because there is no capacity to pasteurize/homogenize it... let alone bottle and distribute it). Total demand for milk is down substantially and the capacity to shift it to other uses just isn't sufficient. Lactating cows don't come with taps that you can turn off... so they have to "dump".

However - they "dump" the milk by adding it to other farm waste that becomes fertilizer.

[ohtransplant]

25. I don't assume anyone is stupid.

but I also don't assume in general. Thanks for the advice though.

So, I don't assume that shifts in demand/market forces don't need to be adjusted for, either in "normal" time 2020 or in our current situation. Nor did I try to address the issue of farm subsidies or suggest the government create artificial demand.

Giving away existing, burgeoning food supplies to people who need it, that the US government is paying to sit on, is something that should be seriously considered in our present situation.

[SWBTATTReg]

7. Wow. Thanks. Perhaps the oversupply of milk will be addressed and the excess supporting of,

and propping up excesses will finally go away, and let the free markets finally hold sway. Again, another blatant example of 'socialism' here in our faces, laid open to all to see.

Next time someone complains about 'socialism', they'll get rightfully get an earful from me.

[Xipe Totec]

8. This article is from before the COVID-19 crisis

The USDA has known for decades about the problems that are created by price supports, including marketing orders. For example, a 1983 notice in the federal register discusses how USDA price supports for dairy "encourage oversupply." Oversupply, of course, drives down the price of dairy products (unless those prices are guaranteed, in which case the supply simply mushrooms). That leads to calls for more support.

Such support includes massive government purchases of dairy products. Indeed, the USDA regularly buys up surplus dairy products that are overproduced due to the agency's own policies. Just this month, for example, the USDA announced the agency was buying up surplus cheese "to encourage the continued domestic consumption of these products by diverting them from the normal channels of trade and commerce."

Last year, the USDA bought $50 million worth of surplus milk and gave it to food banks.

https://reason.com/2019/03/02/thanks-to-decades-of-government-meddling/

[SWBTATTReg]

12. Yes, I've been aware of the farm excesses (to support farmers) for decades. At least they're ...

donating the excess to food banks. At least I hope so, being that our idiot president thinks that everything the feds do, belongs to him and only him. What a scrooge.

They do the same thing in how much wheat is planted, etc. The whole farming industry is riddled w/ price supports all though out the industry (to support 'family' farms, which is funny, being that I bet that a lot of these aren't family farms but industrial combines of a sort and resembles nothing of the family farm.

[Xipe Totec]

14. Agribusiness is a cartel - similar to OPEC in form and function. Free market my ass. nt

[SWBTATTReg]

16. Absolutely. Another example of 'socialism'. Hypocrites. Take care!

[questionseverything]

28. in central illinois milk is in short supply, even powered milk

[Texaswitchy]

4. That was some good cheese.

Maybe more places could make more.

We are going to need extra food.

[Igel]

5. There's a business opportunity.

Great time to set up a business, right?

Why are we going to need extra food?

We already produce a lot for export, and I can only wonder what the state of export logistics is right now.

I can't help but point out that a lot of that milk was thrown away, anyway. I work in a high school. Kids get their free/reduced meals. With it comes a small carton of milk. A lot of those are thrown away, undrunk. Sometimes because the kids want their energy drinks, sometimes because the kids are lactose intolerant and you don't want them drinking milk at 7:30 am on a school day.

[Xipe Totec]

10. Export markets are closing

The one bright spot for U.S. dairy producers—cheese—could also soon sour. That's because the European Union may tighten naming rules for various regional named cheeses, such as feta and Parmesan. According to a report in Feedstuffs, such action could serve to prohibit foreign imports of such cheeses, which could result in losses of up to $20 billion for U.S. dairy producers.

https://reason.com/2019/03/02/thanks-to-decades-of-government-meddling/

[underpants]

11. Schools and restaurants closing killed milk

Not big milk users us

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

31. When schools were open, where was all that milk going?

The student body? Or, the students' bodies? Building strong bones and teeth?

If they're not drinking it at school, it SHOULD just be a shift in demand, not a reduction in demand.

Who's feeding the kids? Or, who's NOT feeding the kids.

Schools around me were handing out lunches a few weeks ago. It appears that has stopped. No cars, no police at the local school around lunchtime.

[underpants]

32. A lot of kids wouldn't drink if they didn't get it at school

School meals are the main meals for a lot of kids. Our local school system was on that immediately. They have a daily pick up...but a lot of those kids' parents are still working.

[Codeine]

18. Dairy was already hurting before the schools closed.

Consumers are moving away from dairy to plant-based alternatives. Eventually the cow’s milk industry was going to have to cut back on capacity.

[Baclava]

20. Easier to turn it into cheese curd and sell it by the tanker car to Canada for their poutine

[Celerity]

22. 75% of African-Americans, 51% of Latinos, and 80% of Asian-Americans are lactose-intolerant

https://web.archive.org/web/20101231021148/http://www.nationaldairycouncil.org/SiteCollectionDocuments/education_materials/aa_health_kit/LactoseIntoleranceandAfricanAmericans_ImplicationsfortheConsumptionofAppropriateIntakeLev.pdf

[samnsara]

26. i just heard a money market podcast from Illinois..

..farmers are assessing using milk as fertilizer

[uncle ray]

29. i'm pretty sure there is a cheese surplus right now.

[Texaswitchy]

30. Plenty of people need it now.

Do not store it.

Use it.

Unless Trump makes it his cheese.

[pansypoo53219]

33. need a system to get it to homebound kids.