The entire Congressional delegation and Governor Scott
Walker sent a letter to U.S.
trade representatives and the secretaries of commerce and
agriculture saying, quote, this situation underscores how
Canada's new pricing policies are not only undermining trade
with the United States, but are displacing fresh milk produced
by hard-working dairy farmers in Wisconsin
and around the country.
The letter continues, we urge you to take immediate action to
address this dire situation, where apparent unfair trade
practices are putting Wisconsin dairy farmers' livelihoods
at risk.
We look forward to working with you to break down these trade
barriers, enforcing existing rules and improve Canadian
market access for our producers in any future
trade negotiations.
>> We are joined now by Wisconsin Secretary of
Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, Ben Brancel.
Thanks for being here. >> Thanks for having me.
>> So what kind of response is Wisconsin getting to its call
for immediate action on this?
>> Well, I think the White House is reviewing what is the
appropriate avenue to get Canada to really own up and be part of
the discussions to deal with this issue.
>> Well, let's back up and have you help us understand why
Canada changed its milk import policies.
>> Well, Canada itself was reviewing its trade deficit,
trade issues.
I will say it that way.
One of the things they recognized is we had a product
from the state of Wisconsin that was moving into Canada.
It's about a $100 million value to the state of Wisconsin.
And they took a look at how could we change things so that
we wouldn't have that competition here
in our own country.
And they changed their pricing structure.
And that pricing structure change was targeted specifically
to this product.
And it comes from New York and the state of Wisconsin.
>> How does it break existing trade rules or constitute unfair
trade practices as was suggested in that letter?
>> Well, we're supposed to have free and open trade with the
country, Canada and the country of Mexico, under the NAFTA
agreements and it has worked very, very well for agriculture.
But now Canada has not only in dairy, but a couple of items,
found unique ways at the provincial level of government,
not the national level, but the provincial level of government
to put things in place that targets the products coming from
the United States and is causing some undue harm and that's what
we're here talking about today, the harm of some of our dairy
producers.
>> So in regard to that, what information do you have that any
of the 75 farmers have found alternative processors to sell
their milk to?
>> Well, we've been discussing this topic with the processors.
We've talked to the processor organizations.
We've talked to the milk handlers.
We've talked to the farm organizations.
Today we're going to have a discussion with the dairy
farmers themselves.
And we are opening up every channel possible to see if we
have an avenue of success.
And there has been reports that we are finding some of the milk
a home. >> Okay.
Any indication that farmers if they don't find that have to
start dumping milk?
>> Well, this is the first time ever in the state of Wisconsin's
history, ever, where milk produced here
could not find a home.
We're still hoping that that's going to happen.
If they don't find a home for your milk, I don't know how you
keep producing the product and staying with your livelihood and
staying with your farm.
And I think it leads some pretty serious decisions
for those farmers.
>> Now, this letter that Grassland sent to farmers April
1st apparently came as a surprise
to many of those farmers.
But was this something that state and federal officials have
been watching and working on for months?
>> Oh, for over a year.
Back in early '16 we started to worry about this change in
policy that Canada was putting in place.
We immediately started to have discussions with their
ambassadors, the embassies, counselor generals.
It was going through federal channels.
We were trying to make sure that it would not get fully imposed.
And we kept worrying about it.
And eventually in March, end of March, Canada informed Grassland
that that was the last loads of ultra-filtered milk they would
be allowing into their country.
>> What did your agency counseling the farmers affected
or what kinds of resources should it come to pass that they
cannot find a new market?
>> Well, we want them to talk to us.
We will help them walk through some of the decision-making
process, what is it that they have to do to disburse the herd
or would they sell the cows and keep the heifers with the
opportunity to come back into the milking system.
What kind of other things do we have to do?
Do we have to mediate with the lenders to see if the lenders
will help us give those farmers some latitude?
So we're standing at the ready.
But most of our energy right now is to hope that that never
happens and to work hard to see that it never happens.
>> How bad is this?
>> It's pretty bad for those farmers.
I don't care what you say about the industry, but when you know
what can happen to those farm families, it's bad.
>> Meanwhile, in the midst of all of this and in an ongoing
kind of effort, you're working to expand markets in Mexico.
>> Yes, we are, as we have been.
We try to find locations where we think there's an opportunity
for products from the state of Wisconsin to be sold and build
relationships.
Those take time to happen, but we've been very, very
successful.
This state used to be ranked 17 amongst the states of the U.S.
Today it's ranked 12th.
So our export market based on the other states and the numbers
we're given has improved.
>> How could any renegotiation of the North American Free Trade
Act from the Trump administration affect all of
this and Wisconsin?
>> Well, my hope is when they sit down and they take a look at
NAFTA and if NAFTA allows this to happen and this is not --
I just think there's a spirit of the law and there's the letter
of the law.
And I think Canada violated the spirit of the law.
And if you have to really get to the letter of the law, then we
have to open up that NAFTA agreement and make sure that
this does not happen again, where they can target a very
specific product and cause undue harm to our businesses here
and certainly our farm families.
>> Meanwhile, just ahead we are looking at the Department of
Agriculture's Farm to School program and that is a program
that we started looking at because there's a budget item
that cuts the coordinator position and the advisory
council for that program.
But that was a cut that actually you recommended as part of kind
of reining in costs in your agency?
>> Well, the legislature required every agency to review
all of its programs and find out if there was an opportunity
for a 5% reduction.
We listed a whole variety of items on that list for the
legislature's consideration and that was one of them, yes.
It was one of those.
And it's because the position was vacant and had been vacant.
We now have two other councils besides the advisory council
working on this project.
And we have other employees that we've redirected to work
on Farm to School programs.
>> All right.
Secretary Ben Brancel, thanks very much for your time
and good luck.