Price gouging is commonly perceived to be a consumer issue, however it also is a farmer issue. Currently, retail fluid milk prices in New England are as much as a dollar per gallon above supply costs (Cotterill et al. 2002; Mohl 2002). Yes, consumers are paying too much; but farmers are also...

Our recent meeting provided a factual basis for analysis of alternative milk policies. We analyzed the cost of production on farms, in processing, and in retailing. We collected and analyzed prices at the retail, wholesale, and farm level. This exercise gave us a rare glimpse into the...

Since November of 2002, the Food Marketing Policy Center has periodically conducted price surveys of milk in New York and Southern New England (Cotterill, et. al. 2002; Rabinowitz, et. al. 2003;Cotterill 2003). Results of these surveys, when coupled with data on the underlying cost of the raw milk, have...

With the help of four University of Connecticut graduate students, two weeks ago I surveyed milk prices in 195 grocery stores in southern New England and neighboring parts of New York. The average price for milk in Providence supermarkets was $3.03 a gallon (the average prices for the major...

At the outset we would like to thank the Committee on the Environment for the opportunities to submit this written testimony and to address the Committee on an important issue today. Milk pricing in New England and Massachusetts has been contentious for several years because of two interrelated...

Farmers want to know how this proposed law will benefit them. This briefing paper explains in a general fashion how the proposed law benefits farmers. Actual benefits from the law will depend critically on the detailed regulations that the Commission promulgates. Those details will include the...

The basic proposition of a fair share milk pricing policy program is the following: Retail milk prices during the low phase of the raw milk price cycle and possibly during the entire raw milk price cycle are high relative to raw milk prices. The large marketing spread is not due to excessive...

Before one can talk about solutions to the “milk pricing problem” one needs to identify its many dimensions and then target solutions to specific aspects of the problem. Is the problem one of supply outpacing demand on the national level? Is it the importation of milk components and products...

Good morning. Thank you for inviting us to speak to you today. My name is Adam N. Rabinowitz and I am a Ph.D. Candidate and Graduate Research Assistant in the Food Marketing Policy Center, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of Connecticut. Unfortunately, Dr....

For dairy farming the core of the sustainability issue is regional differences in cost of production and prices received for raw milk. Consumers are always going to drink milk. The critical question is where is it going to come from? This paper will not address regional cost of production...