PETITION OF:

SECTION 1. Whereas, it is in the best public interest of the commonwealth to promote the prosperity and general welfare of all of its citizens by promoting and improving the competitiveness of the dairy farming industry in the commonwealth and the Northeastern United States so as to contend with the growing dairy industry in other regions that have shifted dairy production and processing from the commonwealth, the Northeastern United States and the upper Midwestern United States due technology advances that have increased the range in which dairy products can travel and be traded globally; and

Whereas, the commonwealth of Massachusetts and the Northeastern United States, with 53.5 million potential consumers within their immediate vicinity, have a ready consumer base that provides markets for both fluid and processed dairy products, giving the Commonwealth and the Northeastern united states an advantage in both a high Class I utilization rate and a significant manufacturing industry that provides jobs and strengthens the producer-manufacturer relationship; and

Whereas, the economic multiplier effect of the dairy industry provides that for every dollar spent by a dairy farm business, approximately two dollars and fifty cents in wages and related business transactions are contributed to the local economies and for every job created by a milk manufacturing plant, an additional 4.7 jobs are supported in industries and sectors linked to dairy manufacturing;

Whereas, changes in technology have allowed the dairy industry to adapt to production in drier regions of the United States, where plentiful land and irrigated forage production have fueled dairy size growth that would have been impossible 10 years ago;

Whereas, the growth in 10,000 head-plus dairies in other regions of the united states have caused a dramatic shift in dairy production and processing to regions west of the Rocky Mountains in the united states, allowing dairy products to be produced halfway across the globe more cheaply than they can be produced in the commonwealth and the Northeastern United States.

Whereas, the explosive growth of western dairies and intense global competition from other countries represent direct threats to the Northeast dairy industry;

Therefore, be it resolved, that the dairy industry in the commonwealth of Massachusetts and the Northeastern United States must become more competitive through focused assistance from government and the land grant institutions that serve them.

SECTION 2. The Commissioner of Food and Agriculture, as appointed under the provisions of section 1 of Chapter 20 of the General Laws, in collaboration with the Secretary of Economic Development, and the president and chief executive officer of the MassDevelopment Financing Agency and the President of the University of Massachusetts, shall enter into a memorandum of understanding with agricultural commissioners of other Northeastern states in the United States so as to promote dairy farming in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the Northeastern region of the United States. The provisions of said memorandum of understanding may include, but not be limited to, the following: (a) the identification and coordination of the direction, goals, and resources necessary to ensure a competitive and profitable dairy industry in the Commonwealth and the Northeastern United States; (b) the development and implementation of cooperative programs between allied institutions of higher education, and other farm organizations and businesses in the Commonwealth and the Northeastern United States that focus on improving dairy profitability and productivity, including cooperative dairy research and extension between the University of Massachusetts and other state institutions of higher education; (c) cooperative statistical research and data sharing between the state National Agricultural Statistics Services (NASS) offices and research and extension institutions in the Commonwealth and other Northeastern states; (d) the development and coordination of formal marketing and public relations programs that communicate the economic contribution, strengths and advantages of locating dairy farmers or milk manufacturing plants in the Commonwealth and the Northeastern states, including the marketing of the Commonwealth and the Northeastern states to dairy producers and processors while recognizing the ability of the individual states to compete for dairies and processing plants; (e) the development of multi-state efforts within the Northeast dairy industry to optimize the intellectual talent within the dairy industry, particularly at institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth and other the Northeastern states; (f) the development of cooperative research projects, in conjunction with the University of Massachusetts and institutions of higher education in other Northeastern states, on diverse dairy business models, to produce information that will assist and inform Commonwealth and other Northeastern dairy producers on in increasing business profitability; (g) the coordination of the efforts of the signatories to the memorandum of understanding and their respective state offices of federal relations to work together on areas of interest on the federal level; and (h) other areas that would benefit from the combined resources of the various state departments of agriculture.

SECTION 3. The activities undertaken by the Commissioner of food and agriculture pursuant to the provisions of section 2 of this act are subject to the requirements and restrictions of the Massachusetts General Laws, the code of Massachusetts Regulations, and all relevant federal laws.