For a farmer, getting the news that you no longer have a market for your product is devastating. I know—I got one of those letters a few months ago. It is especially problematic if you are a dairy farmer, since cows need to be milked every day. So, in April, when 75 Wisconsin farmers were notified by their milk buyer, Grassland Dairy Products, that they would no longer have a market, state government officials took notice.

While our government officials appear to be concerned about the well-being and economic viability of Wisconsin’s dairy farmers, I wonder if they are really more interested in the viability of the “dairy industry.”

Are they concerned about fair farm prices and the environment, or keeping the economic engine rolling?

Gov. Scott Walker and the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection have done all they can to encourage Wisconsin farmers to produce more milk—never questioning how much milk might be too much—because their concern lies with a dairy industry that depends on cheap milk.

In 2003, the Wisconsin Legislature passed Act 235, a bill that limited the ability of local communities to oppose large farms. 

In 2011, the State Assembly voted to provide dairy farmers tax credits for modernizing or expanding their operations.