Dairy farmers want whole milk in schools Pa. agriculture secretary pays visit
BUTLER TWP — About 30 people turned out on Monday at Butler County Community College to hear what the state's Secretary of Agriculture had to say about Pennsylvania's dairy farms.
But Russell Redding was more interested in hearing their take on the struggling industry.
“The industry needs to really grab this and figure it out,” Redding said.
Redding did say that for the first time, $5 million was appropriated in the state budget for dairy development. The money will be used for processing plant expansion, processing plant grants and other dairy efforts.
“Nobody in this room is untouched by what is going on in the dairy industry,” Redding said.
Butler County Commissioner Kim Geyer said before Redding's presentation that the county had 430 dairy farms in the industry's heyday. Now there are fewer than 20, she said.
Geyer hoped the forum with Redding on Monday would help in some way.
“This is a way of bringing everyone together to learn from one another and hear what they're dealing with,” she said.
In addition to all three county commissioners, several officials from surrounding counties attended the forum with Redding.
Jim Marburger, the president of Marburger Dairy in Evans City, acknowledged that the dairy industry is down but not out in Pennsylvania.
“We're lucky enough to keep going,” Marburger said of his longtime operation on Mars-Evans City Road. “Sometimes I wonder how I survived, but we do.”
Marburger told Redding that sales at his dairy dropped dramatically 10 years ago, when public schools began using skim milk and skim chocolate milk.
He said the students liked whole or 1 percent chocolate milk, but will not drink skim. The latter allows school districts to earn federal reimbursement because skim milk is within health standards handed down by the federal government.
“Kids don't want to drink 'chalk water,' which is what they call it,” Marburger said.
Longtime farmer Jim Boldy of Winfield Township said his daughter is a teacher, and she reports that the garbage receptacles in the lunch rooms are full of unopened skim chocolate milk after the noontime meal.
“We should give the students a choice,” Boldy said.
A commissioner from Mercer County agreed, saying studies now show that whole milk is healthier than lower-fat options.
Jayne Sebright, the executive director at the state Center for Dairy Excellence, said two bills are at the committee level in Harrisburg that would return whole milk to public schools without affecting federal reimbursements.
“There are efforts at the federal level to get whole milk back in schools,” Sebright said.
Redding listened intently to all who bemoaned the reduced consumption of fluid milk in recent years that has greatly affected the dairy farms of Western Pennsylvania.
Redding said the industry is out of balance at this point, with more milk in the market than there are consumers.“But it's not impossible to turn it,” he said.He said that in 2000, 50 percent of dairy product was fluid milk. Today, that number is 32 percent.Redding said more people are eating milk-based products like cheese, yogurt and ice cream.“But our infrastructure is so heavily fluid milk,” he said.Evelyn Minteer said after the forum that she was born and raised on a dairy farm in Franklin Township and stayed there after she married.When her husband died in 2005, she sold the dairy cows and switched to beef and eggs, but her heart will always be in the dairy industry.Minteer lamented that the young generation of parents are not devoted to milk for their families as in years past.“We need to educate people,” she said.Redding thanked those who attended the BC3 forum on Monday, and promised to take the information he gleaned back to Harrisburg.He appreciated the direct contact with the farming community, Butler Farm Bureau and elected officials, all of whom are interested in figuring out a solution for the local dairy industry.“There's power in collective thought,” he said.Leslie Osche, the county commissioners chairman, said she would like to explore the possibility of milk processing facilities in the area of Interstates 79 and 80, which would provide transportation options.“We need to think about whether or not it would be a legitimate operation,” Osche said.She would also like to see Butler County farmers and businesspeople get together for events instead of isolating themselves from each other.“We want to look at a way to bring them together and create synergy,” Osche said.
