The American Dairy Coalition penned this letter, All We Want for Christmas, to President Trump on Christmas Eve.

Times are tough for dairy farmers across the United States. As each week passes, more hard-working dairy families are going out of business.  Many feel helpless. We know you don’t want this to happen. Neither do we. Current assistance programs don’t appear to be helping and a rebound in milk prices does not appear to be on the horizon.

The price of milk has dropped nearly 40% over the last four years. Cheese exports from the U.S. to Mexico are down more than 10% annually and shipments to China have fallen almost 65% annually. If this isn’t bad enough, we face onerous and costly dairy regulations, as well as a shortage of workers -- making it hard to find a way each day to stay in business.

We very much appreciate your recent assistance in trying to offset the negative impacts of milk prices due to your implementation of tariffs with Mexico, Canada and China, but the impact is barely notable.  We have come up with a suggested solution that we are asking you implement immediately.

All we want for Christmas is for you to buy the 1.4 billion pounds. of American, cheddar and other types of cheese that is sitting in cold storage facilities throughout the U.S. and give it to families and children in need. If you help us do this, we promise you that your money invested will not only provide children and parents with safe, nutritious cheese, it will give the American dairy economy a jump start to being profitable once again!

The U.S. dairy products industry supports nearly 3 million workers, and each year generates more than $39 billion in direct wages and has an overall economic impact of more than $628 billion. The diets and the jobs of countless Americans depend on the success of the dairy industry to provide an important nutritional staple at an affordable price. Please help us by helping food insecure families across the nation this holiday season.

Dairy farmers are encouraging everyone to spread the word by reaching out to their legislators asking them to work with President Trump and stop the hemorrhaging of the U.S. dairy industry.

Source: American Dairy Coalition