To the Editor:
In the June 13 edition of the Country Folks appeared the article “Manufacturing in NYS to get a helping hand from Congress” supposedly by the so-called Made in America Communities Act sponsored by Congressman Richard Hanna and Sen Kirstin Gillibrand. Sen Gillibrand stated that one of the companies that would be eligible to receive funding would be Chobani because of their incredible success due to the fact that they take dairy milk and manufacture it into yogurt, a value-added product.
In my opinion, Sen. Gillibrand has her priorities mixed up. The “incredible success” that Chobani has had is due to the fact that they have been able to purchase milk for their yogurt at a price way below what it cost the farmer to produce it. The blend price for May milk is $14.83 per hundredweight: about $5 less that the $20-plus that it cost to produce it.
I think it’s high time that our politicians get their heads on straight and start thinking about all the dairy farmers who are being forced out of business every day as the Chobanis of the world continue to have “incredible success.”
Gretchen Maine, Waterville