By JAMIE SEARS RAWLINGS

Kentucky Correspondent

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA) officials estimated only five or six people showed up to a recent public hearing, most of whom voiced support for a measure that would allow dairy producers in the state to choose where the assessment that their farm pays to the state’s Dairy Promotion Committee could go.

The change, which is undergoing official state rulemaking process steps, was initiated last fall, according to Keith Harrison – assistant commissioner, TDA Consumer and Industry Services – at the request of “a handful” of producers.

“It was brought up by some producers that they would like to have some say, if you would, on where some of their assessment funds go as far as the promotion of milk products,” he said. “We try to pay attention and that’s why, whenever you hear from a handful of producers, you try to go up to a group that might be a bit more representative of the industry before you make a move.

“Our promotion committee is made up of dairy farmers from across the state, so we felt like that was a pretty good representative body. In addition, we talked to the Tennessee Dairy Producers Association (TDPA) to get their feedback and make sure we were headed down the right direction.”

The TDPA fully backs the changes, said Stan Butt, executive director.

According to Harrison, information from the public hearing combined with background information about the subject was sent to the state’s attorney general, who will review the change and recommend whether it is adopted. He is optimistic the change will be approved and, when it is, he expects the new rule will come into effect this summer.

Under the new rule, dairy producers would have the opportunity to petition the Dairy Promotion Committee for a redirection of their assessment to a qualified state or regional program of the producer’s choice, or to the National Dairy Promotion Board, according to documents released by TDA prior to the hearing.

Harrison said the new rule would not guarantee the producer’s request. “The rule says the committee ‘may’ act upon a request. We were cautious not to say ‘shall.’

“The committee is going to listen to the requests and it gives, I think, dairy farmers the opportunity to have more input on exactly what happens with some of the resources that come from their dairy to the committee that is out there to promote dairy products in the U.S. and internationally,” he said.

Harrison noted the rules changes in his state had nothing to do with recent uncertainties in the dairy industry, marked notably by dairy giant Dean Foods cutting ties with more than 100 producers in Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina.

“All of this started way before the issues that have taken place in the last couple of weeks in the dairy industry,” he said.

Nevertheless, Harrison explained his state is working diligently to find a path forward for affected producers.

“We are, in Tennessee, very concerned with what is going on in the bigger picture with the dairy industry and the oversupply that we have, and the issues of some of our dairy producers not having contracts and places to market their milk or taking less for their milk than anticipated,” he said.

“We are working with the Farm Bureau, the University of Tennessee, Farm Service Agency and the Tennessee Dairy Producers Association to work with farmers to try to help address those issues, as we go through this situation our industry faces.”