Congressman Massa, Senator Gillibrand, and Congressman Lee listened to two panels. The first Producers and Processors, the second consisted of Economists and Experts.
The best lines of the day....Congressman Massa, after learning that each NY dairy farmer must contribute to a national promotion fund, part of which is used by the State of California to promote their California Happy Cow ads in New York State. Fifteen cents per hundredweight is levied on all milk marketed commercially in NYS.
He asked, "Why can't we produce ads for...let's say... New York Happy Yankee Cows, and play them in California?".
When told that it is tradition that dairy farmers' have responsibility to transport milk to the processor...just like lobster fisherman must arrange transportation of their catch from the ship to the cannery.
Congressman Massa mused, "I don't know how to milk a lobster."
I was in and out of the Forum
I was in and out of the Forum several times during the afternoon. The best comment I heard was near the end of the hearing, along the lines of "No one has ever died from drinking 2% milk".