Farmers warn of high milk prices without farm bill
Source: AP
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Dairy farmers expressed frustration this week with Congress’ failure to pass a farm bill, saying the uncertainty made it hard to do business and some could go under without changes to the federal milk program.
Farmers also worried that if a current nine-month extension of the 2008 farm bill expires with no action, a 64-year-old law will kick in, sending milk prices spiraling. While that might provide short-term profits, they say, it'd hurt them in the long run because no one wants to buy milk at $6 a gallon.
The U.S. House voted down a farm bill June 20, about a week after the Senate approved a different version. It was the second year in a row that the House failed to pass the every-five-years bill that sets funding for agriculture and food programs. Last year, it didn't even vote, prompting the passage in January of a slimmed-down extension of the 2008 law — largely to avoid milk prices sharply increasing.
The Agricultural Act of 1949 sets a much higher price for government purchases of cheese, butter and other dairy products than the U.S. has seen in decades. The government cut the price in recent decades because if it didn't, more companies would sell to the government than to retailers, unless consumer prices rose to match.
Read more: http://www.themonitor.com/news/apnews/article_3d13a65c-e05b-11e2-af61-0019bb30f31a.html
= new reply since forum marked as read
if the price of butter doubled? 
American kids would drink cheaper soda, jettison their healthy-food diet, and become obese.
Oh wait, that's already happening:
I read the online newspaper in Lubbock. One of the bloggers there is called "Mr. Conservative" who has Obama Derangement Syndrome and continuously makes derogatory comments about the Progressive Left and calls them socialists. Since 1995 "Mr. Conservative" has received a check each year and they've totaled over $65,000 during that time. "Mr. Conservative" is actually Mr. Hypocrite who has milked the government teat his entire life He entered the Air Force when he received government training as an eye surgeon and through his career at the Texas Tech Health Science Center where he was demoted from chair of the department and eventually terminated because of his holier-than-thou attitude and possible involvement in bilking the Medicare program. And of course, he sued the TTHSC even though we know how Republicans feel about tort lawsuits. So every penny that doesn't end up in the hands of people that are so vile is actually a victory for us on the "Progressive Left". 
