Friday, December 13, 2019
CapitalPress.com 13
Dairy
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National Milk settles lawsuit for $220 million
By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press
The National Milk Producers
Federation reached a settlement last
week in a class-action lawsuit alleg-
ing its now defunct herd-retirement
program artificially inflated the price
of raw milk, butter and cheese.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. Dis-
trict Court for the Southern District
of Illinois in May 2013, was brought
by retailers and other companies that
purchased milk and dairy products
from dairy cooperatives participat-
ing in NMPF’s Cooperatives Work-
ing Together program.
Defendants in the case alleged the
program violated the Sherman Anti-
trust Act.
NMPF denies the allegation
but agreed to pay $220 million to
avoid the potential of much larger
damages.
The plaintiffs were seeking $1.3
billion in damages, which under civil
suit rules can be tripled, Alan Bjerga,
NMPF senior vice president of com-
munications, said.
“So maximum damages could
have been just under $4 billion,” he
said.
The NMPF decision was based
on the uncertainties inherent in any
jury trial, the large damages sought
by the plaintiffs and the fact that
CWT’s export assistance program
would be unaffected.
“There is no way to sugarcoat a
settlement of this size,” Jim Mul-
hern, NMPF president and CEO,
said in a press release.
But resolving the case eliminates
the possibility of a truly crippling
outcome, he said.
“Lifting this cloud will aid us in
our work advancing the well-be-
ing of U.S. dairy producers, which
includes the current robust CWT
export-assistance program,” he said.
The herd-retirement program
operated between 2003 and 2010.
Designed to help dairy producers in
difficult times, it was lauded by two
USDA secretaries and leading mem-
bers of Congress, he said.
Funded by participating coop-
eratives and individual dairy farm-
ers, the program paid qualifying
dairy producers to send their herds to
slaughter to strengthen and stabilize
milk prices.
Plaintiffs in the case allege
“defendants engaged in a continu-
ing contract, combination and con-
spiracy to limit production of raw
farm milk through premature herd
retirements” in violation of the Sher-
man Act, according to the settlement
agreement.
They also allege the principal
purpose and effect was to reduce the
nation’s supply of raw milk and to
produce both short- and long-term
increases in the price of raw farm
milk, butter and cheese.
Neither NMPF nor any of its
member cooperatives admit any
wrongdoing as a result of the set-
tlement. NMPF is the sole defen-
dant in the settlement, but the settle-
ment extinguishes claims against all
defendants, NMPF stated.
“Defendants have denied and
continue to deny each and every
claim and allegation of wrongdoing
made in the action and all charges of
wrongdoing or liability against them
arising out of any conduct alleged or
that could have been alleged in the
action,” the settlement agreement
states.
NMPF discontinued the herd
retirement program in 2010 but has
continued the export assistance por-
tion of CWT. Participating coopera-
tives and individual producers con-
tribute 4 cents per hundredweight of
milk they produce to the program.
In 2018, the program aided 57%
of U.S. American-style cheese
exports, 44% of butter exports and
39% of whole-milk powder exports,
according to NMPF.
NFL players to sport pro-dairy cleats
Capital Press
Ten National Foot-
ball League players will
showcase their passion for
the dairy industry’s Fuel
Up to Play 60 program
during games played on
Dec. 8 through the NFL’s
“My Cause My Cleats”
campaign.
The campaign allows
players to publicly highlight
the causes that are most
important to them through
personalized designs and
messages on their cleats.
Ten players, including eight
who serve as Fuel Up to
Play 60 ambassadors, have
chosen to feature their com-
mitment to the program,
Dairy Management Inc.,
stated in a press release on
Tuesday.
Fuel Up to Play 60 was
created 10 years ago by
dairy farmers through their
Courtesy of Otto Kitsinger
Former NFL player Marcus Trufant competes in a milk
bottle stacking contest at Heritage Middle School
in Meridian, Idaho, as part of the Fuel Up to Play 60
effort sponsored by the dairy checkoff and the NFL.
Some players will wear cleats with a Holstein pattern
on them this weekend.
checkoff program and the
NFL to improve health and
wellness in schools across
the country.
“It’s great to see these
players put their passion
for Fuel Up to Play 60 and
children’s health and well-
ness priorities on full dis-
play,” said Marilyn Her-
shey, a Pennsylvania dairy
farmer and chairman of
Dairy Management Inc.
All 32 NFL teams are
involved with Fuel Up to
Play 60, and more than
2,000 players have taken
part in events at schools
involved in the program.
Players will display Fuel
Up to Play 60 messaging
and logos or Holstein-pat-
terned prints on their cleats.
They will share images of
their cleats and informa-
tion about their cause on
their social media channels
ahead of the games using the
hashtag #mycausemycleats.
The players who have
chosen Fuel Up to Play 60
as their cause are: Justin
Pugh, Arizona Cardinals;
Nate Ebner, New England
Patriots; Justin Simmons,
Denver Broncos; Mor-
gan Moses, Washington
Redskins; Matt Breida, San
Francisco 49ers; DJ Reader,
Houston Texans; Harri-
son Phillips, Buffalo Bills;
Jerome Baker, Miami Dol-
phins; Mitchell Schwartz,
Kansas City Chiefs; and
Dontrell Hilliard, Cleveland
Browns.
The NFL is producing
television spots that will air
during game broadcasts and
highlight players’ causes.
The 49ers’ Breida will be
included with a message
on the importance of youth
health and wellness.
The spots will also be
shared across the NFL’s
social media channels, and
the checkoff will share
information via its Twitter
and Instagram properties @
FUTP60
Players will have the
opportunity to raise money
for their cause by auction-
ing their cleats off at https://
nflauction.nfl.com/.
DAIRY
MARKETS
Lee
Mielke
Benchmark
reaches
$20.45
By LEE MIELKE
For Capital Press
he Agricul-
ture Department
announced the
November Federal order
Class III benchmark milk
price at $20.45 per hundred-
weight, up $1.73 from Octo-
ber, $6.01 above November
2018, and the highest Class
III price since October 2014.
That will be the peak
for 2019. Monday’s Class
III futures settlements por-
tended a December price
at $19.51, January 2020 at
$18.64; February, $17.85;
and March at $17.41. The
January price was the peak
for 2020.
The bottom was at
$17.21 in April and May.
The 11-month Class III
average is $16.74, up from
$14.69 at this time a year
ago and $16.24 in 2017.
The November Class IV
price is $16.60, up 21 cents
from October and $1.54
above a year ago. Its aver-
age stands at $16.26, up
from $14.15 a year ago and
$15.31 in 2017.
The first week of
December saw a mixed
CME dairy market. The
Cheddar blocks closed Fri-
day at $1.97 per pound, up
three-quarter-cents on the
week and 62 cents above a
year ago. The barrels fin-
ished at $2.2275, down
2 cents, $1.0050 above
a year ago, and with an
inverted spread of 25.75
cents. Nine cars of each
exchanged hands last week
at the CME.
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