Got rBST? The New Pennsylvania Attack on rBST-Free Milk Production

crossposted from unbossed

You read it at here months ago. Amidst the victory celebrations when the harshest form of milk labeling ban failed in Pennsylvania, I predicted that this was not the end. I predicted that Monsanto and its wholly owned subsidiary army of minions would continue to push in many and insidious ways to make the world safe for rBST.  Here are some links you will find useful if you are new to this issue. link here  and here  and here  and here

So, Pennsylvanians, get ready again. The newest attack on your right to drink milk produced by cows not injected with rBST is on.

The new battle ground is not at the Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture. It is with the Pennsylvania Milk Marketing Board. And the battleground has moved from milk labels to milk prices.

The issue of milk pricing has been a big talking point for Monsanto's clone / astroturf groups.

For example, when Penn State Ag Professor and rBST proponent, Terry Etherton, participated in a discussion of Pennsylvania's milk labeling on WHYY, Tuesday's Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane [listen to the show (here via real player) you will hear him make certain claims over and over - when he wasn't shouting to try to keep the other guest, Consumer's Union Michael Hansen, from making important points about the weakness of Etherton's claims. One of Etherton's talking points was premiums paid for non-rBST milk.

For another example,  in a letter by Monsanto front group Professional Dairy Managers of Pennsylvania last January during the milk labeling battle, the PDMP send out a list of talking points that included the claim that they only way to help Americans put food on the table is to use rBST to keep milk prices low.

More examples may be found here. and here.

This time the attack is to go after milk prices for those who do not use rBST (recombinant bovine somatotropin). The Pennsylvania Milk Marketing Board  has announced that it will be holding a hearing on June 4 on this issue. But the real deadline for action is just two weeks away - April 7. Read why below.

BUT if you want to participate and be heard, you must send in your notice by Monday, April 7. This means you have two weeks to get that list together.

[P}ersons who wish to present evidence may be included on the Board’s list of parties by (1) having their attorney file with the Board on or before 4:00 p.m. on April 7, 2008, a notice of appearance substantially in the form prescribed by 1 Pa. Code § 31.25 or (2) if unrepresented by counsel, filing with the Board on or before 4:00 p.m. on April 7, 2008, notification of their desire to be included as a party. Parties may indicate in their notices of appearance if alternate means of service, i.e., email or fax, are acceptable. Notices of appearance filed electronically should be directed to [e-mail].

But this is not all. There are also strict rules for advance notice about witnesses and exhibits. The requirement to provide 20 additional copies of exhibits will put a premium on being prepared and on having money.

The parties shall observe the following requirements for advance filing of witness information and exhibits. The Board may exclude witnesses or exhibits of a party that fails to comply with these requirements. In addition, the parties shall have available in the hearing room at least twenty (20) additional copies made available for the use of nonparties attending the
hearing.

In addition to the notices, you must comply with other strict and close deadlines:

1. By 4:00 p.m. on April 11, 2008,the petitioner shall file with the Board, in person or by mail, one (1) original and eight (8) copies and ensure receipt by all other parties of one (1) copy of:

a. A list of witnesses who will testify for the party, along with a statement of the subjects concerning which each witness will testify. A witness who will be offered as an expert shall be so identified, along with the witness’s area or areas of proposed expertise. For expert witnesses there shall also be filed a statement of the substance of the facts and opinions to which the expert is expected to testify and a summary of the grounds for each opinion.

b. Each exhibit to be presented, including testimony to be offered in written form.

. . .
Parties that wish to offer in evidence documents on file with the Board, public documents, or records in other proceedings before the Board, or wish the Board to take official notice of facts, shall comply with, respectively, 1 Pa. Code § 35.164, § 35.165, § 35.167, or § 35.173. Whenever these rules require production of a document as an exhibit, copies shall be provided to each Board member and to all other parties; in addition, at least twenty (20) copies shall be available for distribution to nonparties attending the hearing.

Requests by parties for Board staff to provide data pertinent to the hearing shall be made in writing and received in the Board office by 4:00 p.m. on May 16, 2008.

The filing address for the Board is Milk Marketing Board, Room 110, Agriculture Building, 2301 North Cameron Street, Harrisburg, PA 17110.

You can read the short form description here at the Lancaster Farming News.

Hearing Set on rbST

HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Milk Marketing Board has announced that it will conduct a hearing June 4 on premiums for rbST (recombinant bovine somatotropin)-free milk.

The purpose of the hearing is to receive testimony and exhibits concerning the possibility of mandating a producer premium for packaged milk labeled as rbST-free. The board will also consider testimony and exhibits concerning the effect of such a premium on minimum wholesale and resale prices.

People wishing to testify at the hearing must notify the board by April 7. The hearing begins at 9:30 a.m., June 4, and will take place in Room 309 of the Agriculture Building in Harrisburg. The hearing applies to all milk marketing areas in the state.

For more information, contact the Pennsylvania Milk Marketing Board at [e-mail] or [phone].

If you are curious about the makeup of the Milk Marketing Board, here are its Board Members and Senior Staff Members. If you think there is a link between them and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, go to the head of the class.

On the web page, links at each name will give you their bios.

Board Member & Senior Staff Bios

Board Members
Boyd Wolff   Chairman
Luke Brubaker   Member
Barbara Grumbine   Consumer Member

Senior Staff
Keith Bierly   Secretary
Douglas Eberly   Chief Counsel
David DeSantis   Chief, Enforcement and Accounting
Timothy Moyer   Chief, Support Services
John Howard   Staff Attorney
Susan Whitman   Director, Consumer Affairs
Fred Puchany   Field Supervisor
Gary Gojsovich   Field Supervisor
David Weldon   Information Technologist

Same battle, new battlefield.