MINUTES
MINNESOTA DAIRY PRODUCERS BOARD
Monday, January 26, 1998, 12:30
Sauk Centre City Hall
Sauk Centre, Minnesota

BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT:
Ken Schefers, Howard Warmbold, Steve Koering, Ken Christianson
Jeff Kunstleben, Violet Zimmer

OTHERS PRESENT:
Don Pylkkanen, Facilitator
Judy Buhl, Advisory Committee Member
Judy Kaiser Advisory Committee Member
Don Zimmer

Eleanor Zimmer

Board President Jeff Kunstleben called the meeting to order. Violet Zimmer, Secretary, read the minutes. Since there was not a quorum, the minutes of the December meeting could not be approved. Board Treasurer Ken Christianson gave the budget report which also could not be approved. Furthermore, no motions were made.

Discussed and decided on sending and paying for one of the Board members to attend the National Family Farm Coalition annual meeting in Baltimore, Maryland. Either Jeff Kunstleben or Steve Koering will attend.

Reports were given on the Johne’s Disease strategy meeting with Dr. William Hartmann and the federal milk pricing policy meetings with Congressman Collin Peterson.

Discussed the upcoming Minnesota Agriculture Commissioner’s meeting on the Dairy Trade Practice’s report and the attendance of some Board members at the meeting.

Update given by Don Pylkkanen on the statewide feedlot moratorium bill and the Rally and Lobby Day February 2.

Meeting adjourned at 3 PM.

MINUTES
MINNESOTA DAIRY PRODUCERS BOARD
Monday, February 23, 1998, 12:30 PM
Sauk Centre City Hall
Sauk Centre, Minnesota

BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT:
Ken Schefers, Howard Warmbold, Ken Christianson, Violet Zimmer, Vern Dahlheimer
Steve Koering, Jeff Kunstleben 

OTHER PRESENT:
Don Pylkkanen, Al Barthelemey, Roger Harges, Eleanor Warmbold

Board President Jeff Kunstleben called the meeting to order. Violet Zimmer, Secretary, read the minutes of the December and January meetings. Steve Koering moved to approve the minutes, and Vern Dahlheimer seconded the motion which passed on a voice vote.

Board Treasurer Ken Christianson gave the budget report. Howard Warmbold moved to approve it, and Steve seconded the motion which passed on a voice vote. Ken moved to pay mileage and per diem to Board members for attending other meetings and activities dealing with Board responsibilities. Ken Schefers seconded the motion which passed on a voice vote.

Steve reported on the annual meeting of the National Family Farm Coalition last January in Baltimore which didn’t address the dairy issues very much while he was there.

Howard moved and Steve seconded the motion to order copies of USDA’s report of the National Commission on Small Farms. Passed on a voice vote.

The quarterly Minnesota Dairy Roundtable meeting was announced for March 9. Ken and Steve said they planned on attending, so that the Board would be represented.

The Minnesota Agriculture Commissioner’s report was discussed on the dairy trade practices of the large wholesalers and distributors toward small, medium, and large retailers. The method and sincerity of the survey was questioned. "Was it set up to fail"? Discussed looking into the flaws of the survey and making a public comment.

Discussed the federal milk pricing reform proposals and the California-style make allowance as part of USDA’s proposal for federal reform which will be commented on in an upcoming Board press conference and news release.

Questioned the accuracy of the $15.10 average milk price reported by Minnesota Agriculture Statistics. Conducted informal survey of Board members’ milk prices which ranged from $13.38 to $15.45.

Discussed changing the Board’s monthly meeting date from Mondays to Tuesdays, but agreed that Mondays are best for members.

Tabled until the March meeting the question of paying Board members for doing extra work on Board projects and activities.

Updates were given on state Johnes Disease legislation and exploring with other dairy groups the idea of doing a class action suit on the California milk pricing system which has received little interest so far.

Discussed paying $250 for illustrations to be done for the milk pricing manual.

Ken moved and Steve seconded the motion to pay Holly and Roger Harges $20 to attend a Minnesota Agriculture meeting. Passed on a voice vote.

Steve moved and Vern seconded the motion to adjourn the meeting by 3 PM. Passed on a voice vote.

Respectfully submitted,

Violet Zimmer, Secretary

MINUTES
MINNESOTA DAIRY PRODUCERS BOARD
Monday, April 27, 1998, 12:30 PM
Sauk Centre City Hall
Sauk Centre, Minnesota

Board President Jeff Kunstleben called the meeting to order. Violet Zimmer, Secretary, read the Minutes of the March meeting. Holly Harjes moved and Steve Koering seconded the motion to accept the minutes which were approved by a voice vote.

Barb Hormann moved and Howard Warmbold seconded the motion that the Board support ARMPPA’s efforts to organize farmers to get a fair price for their milk.

Board Treasurer Ken Christianson reported that the budget’s balance is at $16,726.61. Holly moved and Howard Warmbold seconded the motion to accept the motion which passed on a voice vote.

Karl Hanson, a Perham area dairy farmer, and Jim Potts of the National Family Farm Coalition explained how farmers are moving milk through ARMPPA and by forming their own farmer-run co-ops to be Marketing Agencies In Common with ARMPPA. Brad Rach of the NFO added to the discussion on ARMPPA organizing. They said ARMPPA is available to be used as a pricing agency by all existing co-ops. Karl said it costs 2 cents to fill an 8 oz. milk carton; 4 cents for a carton; 15 cents for a half gallon jug; and 20 cents for a full gallon. It costs $7 a hundredweight to fill small cartons. Fluid milk goes to school contracts and a lot to the metro area.

The process of Board members bringing Board news releases to their local media was reviewed and seems to work well, so we’ll just keep it up.

Ken Christianson moved and Holly seconded the motion that the Board look into using bulk mailing of other organizations for mailing the Board news letter.

Ken moved and Steve Koering seconded the motion that per diem be raised from $25 to $55 which passed on a voice vote.

Howard moved and Barb seconded the motion that Board officers (namely the President, Treasurer, and Secretary) receive an additional $20 per diem for their Board work between the monthly meetings. The motion passed on a voice vote.

Judy Kaiser gave an update on the Johne’s Disease funding legislation of $190,000 for testing and education. She asked for Board recommendation on what size of farms should have priority for the funding which she will present to the Board of Animal Health meeting on May 12. Ken moved and Howard seconded the motion that farms of 150 cows or less should get the priority for funding which passed on a voice vote. Judy then asked how she should represent the Board at the May 12 meeting, and members said she should present herself as an Advisory Committee member to the Board.

Howard moved and Steve seconded the motion to adjourn the meeting a 3 PM.

Respectfully submitted, Violet Zimmer, Secretary

MINUTES
MINNESOTA DAIRY PRODUCERS BOARD
Monday, June 1, 1998, 12:30 PM (May meeting)
Sauk Centre City Hall
Sauk Centre, Minnesota

Board President Jeff Kunstleben called the meeting to order. Violet Zimmer, Secretary, read the Minutes of the April meeting. Steve Koering moved and Howard Warmbold seconded the motion to accept the Minutes which were approved by a voice vote.

Don Pylkkanen, Facilitator, said that he proceeded to get out the first mailing of the Board’s newsletter by ordering the list of the state’s dairy farmers and mailing labels from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture and having Custom Printing in Little Falls print and bulk mail the news letter. All the involved costs were paid for out of the Board’s budget.

(Note: This might not comply with the motion passed at the April meeting to look into using bulk mailing of other organizations for mailing the Board newsletter, but Don said that 1.) he wanted to make sure that at least one or two newsletters got out by the end of the fiscal year, 2.) that the Board’s newsletter would lose its identity by being part of another organization’s mailing material, and 3.) that part of the Board’s mandate is to educate dairy farmers on pricing issues.) Was this part of Steve’s and Howard’s motion to accept the Minutes? If not, should the Board doing and paying for its own mailing of its newsletter be put into a specific motion?

Board Treasurer Ken Christianson reported that the budget’s balance is at $6080.29.

Holly Harjes moved and Ken seconded the motion that the Board be the applicant to the Otto Bremer Foundation for funding.

Jeff reported on the dairy trade practices news conference at Don’s Food Pride in Little Falls which had good media coverage. Some members said they didn’t know about it, so it was agreed that Board members will be notified when and where future activities like this will occur.

Judy Kaiser reported on the Minnesota Board of Animal Health’s meeting on the usage of Johne’s Disease funding and noted the bias toward large-scale dairy operations held by some of the participants at the meeting.

The June 22 Minnesota Dairy Leaders Roundtable meeting was announced which will be attended by Barb Hormann and Holly Harjes. Steve moved and Howard seconded the motion to pay their respective $25 registration fees.

Nothing new was reported on the status of federal milk pricing regarding the BFP level, Class I differentials, Milk Marketing Orders, and the make allowance.

Holly moved and Howard seconded the motion to adjourn the meeting a 3 PM.

Respectfully submitted, Violet Zimmer, Secretary.

MINUTES
MINNESOTA DAIRY PRODUCERS BOARD
Monday, July 27, 1998
Sauk Centre City Hall
Sauk Centre, Minnesota

BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT:
Jeff Kunstleben, COACT
Holly Harjes, MFA
Barb Hormann, MSF
Steve Koering, NFO
Bruce Zeidler, NFO
Vern Dahlheimer, MFA
Violet Zimmer, MFU
Ken Schefer, FUMMC
Jon Hansmeier, MFU
Don Pylkkanen, Facilitator

Board President Jeff Kunstleben called the meeting to order. Violet Zimmer, Secretary, read the minutes of the June meeting. Holly Harjes moved and Steve Koering seconded the motion to accept the minutes which was approved by a voice vote.

Ken Christianson, Treasurer, reported that the Board received the second year funding of $25,000 for fiscal year 1998-99. The balance is $24,738.37. Steve moved and Holly seconded the motion to accept the budget report which passed on a voice vote.

All officers offered to serve second terms. Steve moved and Holly seconded the motion to unanimously reelect the officers which passed on a voice vote.

All Board members whose two-year terms were up stated they will continue for second two-year terms. They will have their respective organizations send in letters for their reappointment.

Discussed and agreed upon having Assistant Attorney General Paul Strandberg and Representatives Steve Wenzel and Bob Gunther attend the August Board meeting to discuss with the Board the next steps to further the investigation of suspected unfair dairy trade practices. Ken Schefers moved and Barb Hormann seconded the motion to change the date if necessary to allow these officials to meet with Board.

Board reviewed the grant application to the Otto Bremer Foundation, and members were invited to call Don Pylkkanen with any corrections or recommendations.

Discussed the higher Butterfat price that reduces the prices for Protein and Other Solids as the latest example of how easily the component pricing system can be manipulated to the farmers disadvantage. Update on the California-style make allowance proposal. Noted that Grade B milk will be higher next month than Grade A milk.

MINUTES
MINNESOTA DAIRY PRODUCERS BOARD
Monday, August 31, 1998
Sauk Centre City Hall
Sauk Centre, Minnesota

Board President Jeff Kunstleben called the meeting to order. Violet Zimmer, Secretary, read the minutes of the July meeting. Howard Warmbold moved and Holly Harjes seconded the motion to approve the minutes which passed by a voice vote.

Ken Christianson, Treasurer, reported the budget balance at $23,483.77. Howard moved and Steve Koering seconded the motion to accept the budget report which passed by a voice vote.

Holly moved and Howard seconded the motion to pay Board members per diem and mileage for attending other meetings relating to Board business.

The Dairy Trade Practices issue was addressed by Assistant Attorney General Paul Strandberg, Senator Becky Lourey of the Senate Agriculture Committee, and House Agriculture Committee Administrator Mike Coenen. Strandberg said dairy trade practices and processor price fixing continue to be investigated by the federal grand jury and the Minnesota Attorney General’s office, but that he is prohibited to say anything more during the investigation. Basically, the AG’s office wants to know more about where the money is going between processors, wholesalers, and retailers. He also recommended that the Board monitor the Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) hearings regarding the social and economic impact of large-scale factory feedlots.

Updated on put options as insurance against falling prices; component pricing formulas for Protein Butterfat and Other Solids; and milk marketing orders. Decided to explain put options in the Board’s next Milk Price News newsletter. Jeff and Don reviewed the August 27 House Agriculture Committee in Sauk Centre. They will attend the Dairy Leaders Roundtable Legislative Coalition meeting on September 2.

Holly moved and Steve seconded the motion to adjourn the meeting at 3:15.

MINUTES
MINNESOTA DAIRY PRODUCERS BOARD
Monday, September 28, 1998
Sauk Centre City Hall
Sauk Centre, Minnesota

Board Secretary Violet Zimmer called the meeting to order after Barb Hormann made the motion for her to chair the meeting until the arrival of Board President Jeff Kunstleben. Steve Koering seconded the motion which passed on a voice vote. Violet then read the minutes of the August meeting. Howard Warmbold moved and Steve seconded the motion to approve the minutes which passed on a voice vote.

There was no budget report because Board Treasurer Ken Christianson was unable to attend the meeting due to another important meeting in Chicago.

The consumer reaction to high retail butter prices was discussed. Howard moved and Steve seconded the motion to investigate the cause and effect of the high prices relating to consumers and farmers. This issue was added as number 8 to the agenda.

Board President Jeff Kunstleben arrived and replaced Violet as chairperson of the meeting.

Jeff and Don Pylkkanen reported on the Minnesota Dairy Leaders Roundtable Legislative Coalition and Steering Committee meeting which was held September 2 to plan their goals, strategy, and issues for the 1999 state legislative session.

Reported on conversations with representatives of Minnesota COACT, Land Stewardship Project, Minnesota Farmers Union, and Minnesota Milk Producers on initiating legislation this session to make the volume premium more fair for all sizes of dairy farms. Jeff and Ken Schefers volunteered to be the sub-committee that represents the Board on this project.

Jeff showed the Board his put option contract which he purchased in order to learn how it works so it can be used as a Board news story to inform other farmers of the contracting procedure and advantages if any.

Ken Schefers moved and Howard seconded the motion to investigate the cause and effect of the high butter prices and to write a news release to show that farmers aren’t the culprits and that they are equally concerned as the consumers about component pricing that encourages these violent price fluctuations.

Respectfully submitted, Violet Zimmer, Secretary

MINUTES
MINNESOTA DAIRY PRODUCERS BOARD
Monday, October 26, 1998, 12:30 PM
Sauk Centre City Hall
Sauk Centre, Minnesota

Board President Jeff Kunstleben called the meeting to order. Violet Zimmer, Secretary, read the minutes of the September meeting. Steve Koering moved and Bruce Zeidler seconded the motion to approve the minutes which passed on a voice vote.

The budget report will be presented at the November 30 Board meeting.

Jeff and Don Pylkkanen reported on the volume premium meeting with Minnesota Farmers Union, Land Stewardship Project, and Minnesota COACT which is developing an informational mailing to dairy farmers on the unfair differences in the volume premiums paid to larger and smaller dairy operations. Also, Jeff raised the question of why should there be both hauling incentives and volume premiums.

Vern Dahlheimer announced the upcoming Environmental Quality Board hearing on factory feedlots. Jeff will present the Board’s position on the issue as it relates to the negative economic impact of factory feedlots on the local economy.

The high butter price was discussed as a symptom of the problem with component pricing. Jeff explained that each component has its own calculation and that the protein price was cut in half to pay for the high butterfat price. The question was asked if butterfat was used for cheese or is cheese being made for half price; and if the butter price is high, why aren’t processors making more butter? Land O’Lakes butter is up to $5.15. The rules and regulations on component pricing were bloc voted in by farmers. It was suggested that a news release be issued saying that the component prices shouldn’t intertwine.

Don announced that the Otto Bremer Foundation turned down the Board’s grant proposal for funding. Howard Warmbold moved and Vern seconded the motion to adjourn the meeting which ended at 2:25 PM. Respectfully submitted, Violet Zimmer, Secretary.

MINUTES
MINNESOTA DAIRY PRODUCERS BOARD
Monday, November 30, 1998, 12:30 PM
Sauk Centre City Hall
Sauk Centre, Minnesota

Board President Jeff Kunstleben called the meeting to order. Violet Zimmer, Secretary, read the minutes of the October meeting. Steve Koering moved and Holly Harjes seconded the motion to approve the minutes which passed on a voice vote.

Discussed the discontinuance of the extra $20 per diem per month for the Board’s officers and facilitator which occurred during the months of May 1998 through October 1998. The extra amount of $460 for these months was returned to the Board’s fund, and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture was notified.

Discussed meetings on the volume premium issue with Minnesota Farmers Union, Land Stewardship Project, and Minnesota COACT which have formed a working group to work on the issue. These meetings were attended by Board members Jeff Kunstleben and Ken Schefers, and the facilitator, Don Pylkkanen.

Ken Christianson moved and Steve seconded the motion for the Board to be part of this working group because it deals with a serious dairy pricing practice which falls under the statute responsibilities for the Board. The motion passed unanimously on a voice vote.

Board Treasurer Ken Christianson reported that the budget is at $19,962 and cited recent expenditures in a written report. Steve moved and Howard Warmbold seconded the motion to accept the report which passed on a voice vote.

Vern Dahlheimer and Steve Koering volunteered to represent the Board at the December 7 meeting of the Dairy Leaders Roundtable.

Don reported that the Board’s funding to June 2001 is part of the Department of Agriculture’s budget to the Governor-Elect. The Board statute sunsets at that time.

Jeff reported on the Board’s testimony on the economic impact of factory feedlots which was presented at the Generic Environmental Impact Study (GEIS) hearing in Cold Spring on October 29. The milk pricing manual project was briefly discussed.

Steve moved and Howard seconded the motion to adjourn the meeting which passed on a voice vote. Adjournment time was 2:40 PM.

MINUTES
MINNESOTA DAIRY PRODUCERS BOARD
Monday, January 4, 1999, 12:30 PM (December meeting)
Sauk Centre City Hall
Sauk Centre, Minnesota

(NOTE: Due to the holidays, December’s Board meeting was held on January 4, 1999 of which the following is the minutes.)

Board President Jeff Kunstleben called the meeting to order. Violet Zimmer, Secretary, read the minutes of the October meeting. Steve Koering moved and Barb Hormann seconded the motion to approve the minutes which passed on a voice vote.

Board Treasurer Ken Christianson reported the budget balance at $11,657.14. Major expenses were the November and January issues of Milk Price News. Howard Warmbold moved and Steve seconded the motion to accept the report which passed on a voice vote.

The unequal distribution of volume premiums was discussed and strategy was formulated to first have co-op members propose a resolution to their respective co-ops to restore fairness according to the original cooperative principle of shared equity. A statewide news conference and news releases will inform farmers of their rights and recommend that they use them. If the co-ops don’t respond to the proposed resolution, then farmers will have to resort to state and probably national legislation for restitution.

Alex Williams, COACT phone canvasser, reported on the overwhelming reaction of dairy farmers to the unfairness of the premium distribution and that COACT is making this a public issue by advising the farmers to write or call Governor Ventura and their state representatives. Don Pylkkanen cited the Land O’Lakes unit delegate who said this issue must be addressed. Steve Carpenter, a FLAG attorney, explained the state’s co-op law which requires co-op bylaws that members can use to vote in board members who want fair premium distribution, to amend the bylaws to require equity, and to initiate special membership meetings if 20% of the members petition for this.

If and volume premiums are in farmers’ milk contracts was discussed as a way of finding out about the process and patterns of distribution that co-op members have the power to inspect. Furthermore, it’s illegal to induce a co-op member to break his existing contract with a big volume premium offer, and co-ops cannot discriminate unreasonably among members in good standing. Also, volume premiums are not directly connected to the cost efficiency of the processor as illustrated by those smaller farms that are closer to the plant than a big operation. Strategy was discussed on how to get farmers to bring the proposed resolution to their annual meetings and through petitioning which was followed by Steve Carpenter’s plan to start drafting a legislative proposal based on Wisconsin’s administrative rule on volume premiums.

Asking the Minnesota Catholic Conference and Minnesota Senior Federation to join the working group was discussed and recommended for action.

Artificial bovine growth hormone, the state attorney general’s renewed suit on processor price fixing, and butter valuations were mentioned by Rod Boser and Jeff Kunstleben; and Vern Dahlheimer reported on December’s Dairy Leaders Roundtable meeting.

The next meeting of the working group was set for January 15.

Vern moved and Ken seconded the motion to adjourn the meeting which ended at 3:20 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Violet Zimmer, Secretary