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Category: Dairy Production / Food and Beverage / Welfare

US Government buys $26m in cheese to help local farmers

Thursday, 25 Aug 2016 05:56:50

Brie cheese. (Flickr: sarae)

From brie to cheddar, camembert to provolone, the United States is experiencing a cheese overload.

And the time has come for the US Government to step in and solve the cheesy problem.

Almost 5 million kilograms of cheese will be bought from private makers at a cost of $US20 million ($26 million) in an effort to bolster the country's dairy industry.

Cheese surplus is the highest it has been in 30 years, according to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The cheese stockpile will be used to assist food banks across the nation as part of the USDA nutrition assistant programs.

"We understand that the nation's dairy producers are experiencing challenges due to market conditions and that food banks continue to see strong demand for assistance," agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement.

"This commodity purchase is part of a robust, comprehensive safety net that will help reduce a cheese surplus … at the same time, moving a high-protein food to the tables of those most in need."

According to the USDA, revenues of dairy producers have dropped by 35 per cent over the past two years.

The USDA said a number of factors contributed to the sluggish marketplace for dairy producers, including low world market prices, increased milk supplies and inventories and slower demand.

The surplus led Congress, the National Farmers Union, the American Farm Bureau, and the National Milk Producers Federation to request the USDA buy the bulk cheese as a lifeline for the industry.

It comes as Australian dairy farmers are battling through their own crisis, which has led to calls for the Federal Government to re-introduce the free milk program in schools to prop up the industry.

AustraliaPlus


 

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