WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced that at his urging Christine A. Varney, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Antitrust Division, will come to New York to meet with dairy farmers and consumers to explore potential anticompetitive behavior on the part of dairy processors.  Varney is the nation’s top antitrust investigator and she is coming to NY following a request by Schumer this August that DOJ launch a formal investigation into anticompetitive practices on the part of large milk processors, such as Dean Foods.  The specific areas of focus may include excessive market concentration, marketplace transparency and vertical integration in the dairy industry.  The exact times and locations have not yet been scheduled. 

“These anticompetitive practices on the part of the nation’s largest milk processors are squeezing both consumers at the grocery store and dairy farmers while securing the middlemen record profits,” said Schumer.  “The Department of Justice is doing the right thing by sending the nation’s top antitrust investigator to New York to suss out what’s going on.”

This August, Schumer released a report showing that while the price paid to dairy farmers for milk has cratered by almost 50% since January 2008 to historic lows that threaten the viability of countless dairy farms, the price consumers pay in grocery stores has fallen a mere 15% over the same period.  Additionally, the amount of revenue dairy farmers receive per dollar consumers spend on milk has precipitously declined.  

Although the price that dairy farmers are paid remains lower than in nearly four decades, less than $1 for a gallon of milk this summer, the cost that consumers pay for milk in stores remains relatively high.  Schumer said there seems to be a disconnect between the rock bottom prices that are being foisted on dairy farmers and the still sticky price of milk at the store. 

In an effort to reduce the pressure on struggling dairy farmers, Schumer called on the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to take a hard look at the dairy industry and identify where the problems lay.  In response to Schumer’s urging, the nation’s top antitrust official will be coming to New York State to meet with dairy farmers and consumers to explore this problem.

“It defies logic that dairy farmers are getting raked over the coals and consumers have seen such a minimal drop in price,” Schumer said. “Something is clearly rotten in the state of Denmark – and it’s not the milk the our family dairy farmers produce.”