Milk protein concentrate-a touchy issue among struggling dairy farmers-is making its way onto the local political agenda.
\Farmers are living on 1978 milk prices, and a lot of people can't hang on anymore. People are giving up,"" said Sue Beitlich, a dairy farmer and president of the Wisconsin Farmers Union.
A resolution introduced at the Dane County Board meeting Thursday night is a call to the federal government for MPC reform, according to Dane County Sup. Brett Hulsey, District 4.
""Basically we're asking the federal government to amend trade agreements and put MPC under similar treatment as other imported dairy products,"" Hulsey said.
For a state that receives $18 billion annually from dairy farming, there is concern that milk protein concentrate or MPC will drive prices down further.
""MPC is a process that is used in some parts of the world [not in the U.S.] in order to extract protein out of milk in dry form, which is then used an extender in some types of cheese and dairy products,"" said Dan Poulson, president of Wisconsin Farm Bureau.
Poulson also said that milk prices have been in the ""dumper"" for the past 20 months and ""they are still importing MPC.""
In the MPC process, the concentrate goes through ultra-filtration, in which lactose is taken out. Because MPC is cheaper than milk, U.S. companies purchase it to stay competitive. Hence, farmers are receiving competition from outside the U.S. that drives dairy prices down.
Products containing MPC range from dairy items to chips and dog food. According to Beitlich, companies such as Nestle and Kraft use the concentrate. Unlike the standard regulations for U.S. dairy products, there is no tracking system for MPC. Therefore, there is no knowledge of how, where and when MPC was produced.
Although there is no research that proves MPC is unhealthy, Beitlich said undercutting protein during ultra-filtration removes minerals and vitamins. Consumers are then left unaware of which products contain MPC.
Farmers in New York and Ohio have come together to try and pass legislation regulating the use of MPC. Some Wisconsin counties, including Dane, are now joining the fight in hopes of allowing farmers to better compete.
