Recently, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Department of Justice put on a public workshop in Wisconsin to examine the enforcement of antitrust and other regulations in the dairy industry. Both producers and the public had a chance to give their comments on the matter.
"The dairy industry has been hit particularly hard over the past eighteen months, and, like other agricultural sectors, is experiencing consolidation and shrinking farm numbers," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said.
This isn't the first forum held by the two departments regarding competition in the agricultural industry. Another forum was held recently to discuss regulations in the poultry market.
Trying to improve the situation of farmers in the country is one of the chief goals of the USDA, which provides a number of loans and grants to producers who are experiencing hardship. Some of these include assistance for people whose crops were destroyed due to natural disasters.
