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September 16, 2016 CapitalPress.com Dairy Subscribe to our weekly dairy or livestock email newsletter at CapitalPress.com/newsletters Farmers Creamery Cooperative facility sale pending NMPF, dairy co-ops agree to settle anti trust lawsuit By ERIC MORTENSON National Milk Produc- ers Federation and member dairy cooperatives have agreed to pay $52 million in a class action lawsuit alleg- ing the Cooperatives Work- ing Together herd-retire- ment program reduced the supply of milk, eliminated competition and artificially raised the price of milk and milk products to consumers. Plaintiffs claimed the program — which ran from 2003 to 2010 and paid dairy farmers to destroy their herds — was responsible for the removal of more than 500,000 cows and re- duced the supply of milk by approximately 10 billion pounds, according to court records. The complaint cites stud- Dan Wheat/Capital Press ies by University of Mis- Dairy cooperatives have agreed to pay $52 million in a class action lawsuit alleging the Cooperatives souri ag economist Scott Working Together herd-retirement program reduced the supply of milk, eliminated competition and Brown, commissioned by artiicially raised the price of milk and milk products to consumers. NMPF to analyze the CWT program, to allege the pro- gram was responsible for a CWT retains an export as- program and allow us to fo- used for the purchase of cumulative increase in milk sistance program. cus on the future,” NMPF fresh milk products. price revenue on the farm of In the Aug. 11 settlement President and CEO Jim The law firm of Hagens $9.55 billion. agreement, released last Mulhern said in a written Berman Sobol Shapiro, The plaintiffs claimed vi- week, the defendants stat- statement. which filed the lawsuit, olation of antitrust statutes ed despite their belief that “It is important to called the herd-retirement and unjust enrichment and they are not liable for the note that the court has program a conspiracy by had sought a jury trial. The claims asserted and have found no antitrust viola- the biggest dairy produc- lawsuit was originally filed defenses to support that tion and CWT makes no ers in the country in a clas- in September 2011 in U.S. position, they are agreeing admission of wrongdo- sic price-fixing scheme District Court in Northern to the settlement to “avoid ing in this settlement,” he and is urging consumers California. further expenses, inconve- stated. in the 15 applicable states In Addition to NMPF, the nience, and the uncertain- Dairy Farmers of Ameri- and the District of Co- lawsuit named Dairy Farm- ties and business disruption ca referred Capital Press to lumbia to file claims for ers of America, Land O’ and burden of continued NMPF for comment. reimbursement. Lakes, Dairylea and Agri- litigation … .” The settlement agree- Compassion Over Kill- Mark — all dairy coopera- “Settlement of this litiga- ment is subject to the ap- ing, a nonprofit animal pro- tives that participated in the tion is the most sensible and proval of the court. The $52 tection organization, stated CWT program. responsible course of ac- million settlement will be it is proud to have spear- Herd retirement was dis- tion to maintain the current a combination of cash and headed the research that led continued after 2010, but CWT Export Assistance in-store loyalty cards to be to the lawsuit. Capital Press Organic Valley, the nation’s largest organic dairy coopera- tive, announced it will buy and renovate the Farmers Cream- ery Cooperative in McMinn- ville, Ore. The pending sale is the latest turn for FCC. Earlier this year, members accepted an agreement that allowed dairy farmers to ap- ply for membership in the much larger Northwest Dairy Associ- ation of Seattle, which includes Darigold. The McMinnville plant was not included in the agreement. The McMinnville cream- ery will close and be reno- vated “to align with Organic Valley’s operations,” the com- pany said in a news release. The work will include a “sig- niicant investment in new equipment and state-of-the art technology.” The facility will reopen in late winter or early spring of 2017, according to the news release. Additional details of the sale were not im- mediately available. Organic Valley, based in Wisconsin, represents more than 1,800 farmers in 36 states and describes saving family farms as its “founding mis- sion.” Organic Valley produces organic milk, cheese, butter, eggs, soy and other products. In a news release, the com- pany said its “regional model” means milk is produced, bot- tled and distributed locally “to ensure fewer miles from farm to table and to support our lo- cal economies.” Organic Val- ley has 72 co-op members in Oregon and Washington. By CAROL RYAN DUMAS Capital Press Generations of dairy workers help plant run smoothly Charleston Gazette-Mail CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Homer Lanham started working at the old Valley Bell dairy plant on Charleston’s West Side in 1942. When he retired 44 years later in 1986, Homer handed the reins to his son Bruce, who monitors the pasteurization process at the dairy. Today, at what is now the United Dairy plant, Bruce is showing his son, Matt, the ropes. If all goes according to plan, by the time Matt is ready to retire someday, the family will have invested more than a century in the same dairy business. “It’s been good. It’s a good job,” Bruce said. “Good benefits, and all that. That’s a good thing to pass on.” It’s not easy work, though. The machines are loud, too loud for easy con- versation, and they require a certain amount of dark, thick grease to run smoothly. Condensation drops from the ceiling and the metal pipes, making the cement floor slippery. Bruce and his coworkers wear white jumpsuits cov- ered with inevitable smudg- es and stains, and slip-re- sistant boots to keep from falling. He pauses to wipe the sweat from his brow and checks the levels on a giant tank. Matt, he said, has proven himself to be a hard worker and a quick learner. “The best quote I ever heard from him, he came home after three or four weeks of working with me and told my daughter, he said, ‘Dad’s really smarter than I ever thought he was,”’ Bruce said. He smiles proudly at the memory. “I knew I had him then.” It’s a legacy that’s import- ant and valuable to his family as well as to his employers. The dairy processes 1 mil- lion 8-ounce bottles of milk for school children in West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky and Virginia each week. It also processes another 500,000 gallons of milk each week, trucking in the product from farms and co-ops for miles around. On site the raw milk is pasteurized, homogenized and separated into skim, 1-percent, 2-percent and whole milk, and some of it is turned into chocolate and 38-1/#7 By MARIA YOUNG 9 strawberry milk. The liquid is kept in hold- ing tanks, then transferred to coolers. At the same time, vats full of thick liquid plastic are being poured into molds, shaped into gallon jugs and carried down conveyor belts where they are slapped with labels and illed. Still more machines put lids on the jugs and twist them to seal. Eventually they are loaded onto pallets, transported onto trucks and shipped to stores and grocery shelves. It takes a staff of 53, work- ing around the clock six days a week, to pull it off. “It’s very hard to staff,” said Charlie Egnor, plant manager. “We have a lot of good employees, but it’s a de- manding business. It’s long hours, it’s hard work,” he added. “Sometimes you go through two or three people before you get to somebody who wants to stay a long time and make a career of it.” By the time someone has been on staff for ive years or more, they’ve learned to troubleshoot, to prevent problems and to act quickly if something goes wrong. That’s the point at which a worker really becomes im- portant to the task at hand, said Scott Womack, the plant’s quality assurance manager. “They learn the business. They know what it takes to get it done. It’s a great relief to be able to depend on those guys,” he said. Homer Lanham died the day after Thanksgiving last year, shortly before his grand- son Matt was hired at United Dairy. In a way, though, Ho- mer’s legacy lives on. Bruce is a grandfather now. His daughter, a teacher, gave birth to twins just a few weeks ago, and Matt has a little girl named Peyton, who is 18 months old. Whatever Peyton and her new cousins decide to do with their lives, Bruce imagines the work ethic his father instilled in him, and that he instilled in his children, will eventually ind its way to the next gen- eration. “It think it’s very import- ant to teach kids ... If you don’t teach ‘em to work, they don’t know how to work,” Bruce said. “If parents show a good work ethic, it gets passed down to their kids.” That, he said, is the real sign of a job well done. Dairy Markets Lee Mielke Dairy prices continue to be mixed By LEE MIELKE For the Capital Press U .S. dairy prices were mixed in the shortened Labor Day Week. The Cheddar blocks reversed two weeks of decline, climbing to $1.72 on Wednesday, then inched back 2 cents, but closed Friday at $1.71 per pound, up 3 cents on the week and 1 1/2-cents above a year ago. The Cheddar barrels, after plunging 24 cents in the previous four weeks, climbed to $1.66 Wednesday, but closed Friday at $1.6050, down 3 1/2-cents on the week and 1 1/2-cents above a year ago. Nine cars of block ex- changed hands on the week at the CME and 24 of barrel. The blocks plunged 6 cents on an offer Monday, as traders awaited the afternoon’s World Agricultural Supply and De- mand Estimates report, but then regained a penny and a half Tuesday on an unilled bid, inch- ing back to $1.6650 per pound. The barrels shed 3 1/2 cents Monday, with 14 cars exchang- ing hands, and was down 2 more cents Tuesday, with 10 more cars brought to Chicago and the price falling to $1.55, lowest level since June 27, 2016. Some wonder if U.S. cheese prices could slip below rising global levels. Midwest cheese production has slowed somewhat, accord- ing to Dairy Market News. “With the seasonal downturn in milk intakes, manufacturers report discounted spot loads are not as readily available. Proces- sors are hesitant to buy addi- tional milk unless they can get a good deal or need it to meet commitments. “Cheese orders are steady. A few cheesemakers note an increase in orders from food ser- vice over the last week. Retail orders for specialty cheese va- rieties are also strong. Contacts suggest inventories are still a little long, but not to the point of being a concern.” Western cheese output is “relatively steady and consis- tent with available milk supply,” says DMN. “Although milk production is waning a little in the northern states of the region, processors report there are not any major problems getting enough milk for the cheese vats. Domestic retail and food service demand has been good. Customers are taking regular shipments and help- ing keep cheese stocks under control. Industry contacts say commodity cheese inventories are long, but sellers are not in a rush to clear stocks. 38-1/#4N
