Minnesota dairy farmers are calling on Congress to ratify the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) in the wake of a government report that shows dairy farms are closing at an alarming rate.

In a letter sent April 24, Associated Milk Producers Inc., New Ulm, asked Minnesota’s Senate and House officials to call for an immediate vote on USMCA.

President Donald Trump, and his counterparts in Mexico and Canada, signed USMCA last year. The trade deal is now awaiting Congressional ratification before it can take hold.

“You have the power to help kickstart the state’s ailing dairy outlook,” said Steve Schlangen, an Albany, Minn., dairy farmer and chairman of the AMPI board of directors. “USMCA would maintain important trade avenues for Minnesota dairy farm families and businesses.”

Minnesota, like many dairy-producing states, has faced disruption during the ongoing trade war. Slow-moving negotiations, U.S.-imposed tariffs and the ensuing trade retaliation measures continue to disrupt dairy exports and pressure milk prices, dairy cooperative officials said.

And that is taking its toll on America’s dairy farms. USDA in March reported that an average of seven U.S. dairy farms were lost every day in 2018.

Minnesota lost an average of four every week.

USDA also reported 70% of U.S. farms have operating margins in the “red zone,” indicating a high risk of financial problems.

“Farm incomes are falling, households are depending more on off-farm income and the rural economy is bleak,” Schlangen said in the letter.

Minnesota exports $174 million worth of dairy goods every year — trade that supports more than 2,500 jobs. The state’s dairy industry wants to see exports increase before more family farms close.
USMCA locks in duty-free access to Mexico’s growing dairy market; provides additional dairy market access to Canada that Minnesota is well-positioned to supply; reforms Canada’s controversial Class 7 milk pricing scheme; and tackles the misuse of geographical indications that block U.S. dairy sales, the cooperative told lawmakers.

Beyond the letter, AMPI partnered with Farmers for Free Trade to host an event at the farm of AMPI members Steve and Kerry Hoffman near New Ulm, Minn., to showcase the importance of ratifying USMCA.

Farmers for Free Trade is a nonprofit group that has been touring the nation to support USMCA.

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