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U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., wants the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Department of Justice to allow more public input at upcoming joint workshops on competition in the agriculture industry.
“Not only have I received great ideas from these exchanges, which I have pursued in Washington, but they are a great way to get unfiltered viewpoints of real people and not just interest groups,” Feingold wrote in a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. “In fact, concerns have been consistently expressed at many of my listening sessions over the years about the state of competition and areas of potential mischief like the thinly traded cash cheese market in the dairy industry. I can vouch for the value of listening to and acting on public comments like these, and I respectfully suggest you make sure that there is ample opportunity for them to be voiced.”
U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold (Lauren Victoria Burke/WDCPIX.COM)
Feingold noted in a press release the problems that arose in Iowa prior to the first workshop, which focused on the seed industry. National and state advocacy groups, noting that few panelists represented family farms or consumers, held their own town hall meeting in advance of the event in Ankeny. Due to pressure from the groups, as well as from U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, the government included an additional panel that consisting of farmers impacted by seed costs. More time for direct public comment was also granted, although much of it was held during time slots previously devoted to breaks and meals when many were out of the main conference area.
Many Wisconsin dairy producers drove to Iowa for both the advance town hall and the joint workshop. Prior to their departure, they had already begun to make plans for the dairy workshop, now scheduled for June 25.
Feingold also suggested in the letter that the USDA’s Dairy Industry Advisory Committee be invited to attend the workshop, as well as receive USDA/DOJ summaries of the workshops. The Advisory Committee has begun considering proposals for addressing short and long term challenges facing the industry.
Because the dairy industry contributes $20.6 billion to the Wisconsin economy, Feingold has had his eye on competition in that sector for some time — but especially in the wake of recent volatile prices paid to producers. As a part of his work, Feingold arranged for Chrstine Varney, lead attorney general in the DOJ’s Antitrust Division, to meet with Peter Carstensen, an industry expert and professor at the University of Wisconsin, in March 2009.
The exact schedule for the Wisconsin workshop has not yet been released. Information that is available on the three remaining joint workshops is posted on the Antitrust Division’s website.
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