San Andreas Milk De-Fault

http://notmilk.com/nofault.html

The most powerful man in America's dairy industry
is Jerry Kozak, CEO of the National Milk Producers
Federation (NMPF). How large is NMPF? They have
tens of thousands of members, including Land 0'Lakes,
Agri-Mark, and Dairy Farmers of America. Kozak has
traditionally painted the rosiest of pictures for
America's dairymen, which is why his March editorial
(nmpf.com), which reads like a concession speech,
surprised even me. Kozak refers to the dairy industry's
near-bankrupt condition as a "state of alert." He
compares economic crisis to America's state of "alert"
due to war and terrorism.

Kozak wrote:

"The dairy industry's alert is being sounded as we look at
prices that have collapsed below support levels (as of the
beginning of March), and at futures markets that for the
rest of the year offer no hope of a strong rebound. Cow
numbers and milk production continue to cling to stubbornly
high levels, while demand is mostly flat."

In assessing blame, Kozak admits what I've been writing
for eight years:

"All in all, a very alarming picture, nearly as alarming as a
national security alert about the safety of our homeland. The
difference is that in this case, the threat to the dairy industry
doesn't come from some shadowy cabal of terrorists from overseas;
in this case, the problem is us."

Kozak once worked for the Food and Drug Administration. During
his tenure, the genetically engineered bovine growth hormone
(rbGH) controversy became FDA's biggest headache. In the early
1990s, Kozak was charged with the task of overseeing the use of
antibiotics in milk. Cows injected with rbGH developed clinical
mastitis, so they had to be treated with increased amounts of
antibiotics. Under Kozak's command, FDA allowed one hundred
times the previous existing level of antibiotics to be allowed
into the milk we drink. One part per hundred million became one
part per million. In the mid-1990s, consumers Reports and the
Wall Street Journal tested milk in the New York metropolitan
area and found fifty-two different antibiotic residues.

The approval of that hormone, which increased America's milk
supply, has become the dairy industry's nightmare. Kozak's
leadership has doomed his own industry. Perhaps one day, Kozak
will look in the mirror, and write not that the problem is "us,"
but come to terms with the truth. The problem was "Jerry."

In a dream, I see Kozak ask, "Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who's
responsible for milk's downfall? Is it the Notmilkman?" The mirror
responds, "It's you, Jerry."

On September 10, 1998, Jerry Kozak wrote a guest editorial
in the national dairy farm magazine, Hoard's Dairyman.
His words:

"If we required any reminder of the need to defend dairy
products, we have received it in the person of Robert Cohen,
a New Jersey-based real estate developer who has engaged in
a widespread dairy-bashing campaign. Many dairy producers are
aware that Cohen is promoting his recently published book
'MILK: The Deadly Poison.' Cohen has demonstrated an ability
to take his allegations and spread them to the public through
the Internet and through appearances on local radio and
television programs."

Kozak once wrote editorials about me. He stopped, hoping
that I would fade away. Sorry to disappoint you, Jerry.

Meanwhile...let's examine the latest dairy production
statistics from the United States Department of Agriculture
(USDA).

<http://biz.yahoo.com/rm/030317/u_s_february_milk_production_up_1.>

With inventories being at an all-time high, and prices being at
an all-time low, it became appropriate for milk producers to cut
back. In the spirit of cooperation, the state of Wisconsin did
just that. In February of 2002, Wiscowsin was home to
1,279,000 milking bovines. By February of this year, that
number had decreased to 1,265,000 cows. Sure, it's just a
few drips in the milk bucket, but every less cow helps
to decrease the surplus.

Wisconsin lowered the number of dairy cows in their state
by 14,000, while the number of California bovines grew by
57,000 cows to 1,681,000. Interesting trend. In February of
2003, California cows produced 141,000,000 pounds more
milk than they did in February of 2002. California is now
the number one dairy-producing state in America, displacing
cheese-head land. This may not be such a bad thing.

One day soon, all of the cows may be grazing somewhere to
the left of the San Andreas Fault...when that long-awaited
California earthquake puts an abrupt end to America's
dairy industry...

Forgive me now, readers, but by admitting that there are only
dark clouds on dairy's horizon, Kozak seems ready to give up,
and he did compare the plight of his industry to the existing
war on terrorism, so I waste not this opportunity to share the
following with you:

Have you heard about the new NMPF exercise program,
inspired by the Iraqi air force workout manual?
Each morning you raise your hands above your head,
and leave them there.

What do Saddam, Kozak, and Miss Muffet have in common?
They all have Kurds in their way.

Robert Cohen
http://www.notmilk.com