Steve Taylor and a lot of other New Hampshire dairy farmers can expect a check for several thousand dollars soon.
This payment – along with some non-monetary relief – is outlined in a settlement approved by a federal judge in Vermont Tuesday that requires a major northeast dairy marketing cooperative to pay $50 million to thousands of northeast dairy farmers.
The terms were suggested in part by Taylor, who is a former New Hampshire agricultural commissioner and one of the lawsuit’s class representatives.
“I’m pleased,” Taylor said Tuesday.
Judge Christina Reiss issued the order from the U.S. District Court in Burlington, Vt. It ends what has been a seven-year-long class action lawsuit in which farmers claimed dairy cooperative Dairy Farmers of America (DFA), its marketer, Dairy Marketing Services (DMS), and dairy product company Dean Foods worked together to drive down prices within the northeast raw milk industry.
In a separate 2010 settlement, Dean Foods paid $30 million to farmers. Reiss rejected a previous DFA/DMS proposed settlement due to some farmers’ objection to it.
This time around, however, she wrote in her June 7 opinion that due to the robust participation and general support for the latest proposed settlement, as well as, “the complexity, expense, and likely duration of the litigation,” there was a lot of weight on the side of approving the settlement.
Following Tuesday’s order, almost 9,000 dairy farmers in New Hampshire, Delaware, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and the District of Columbia will receive an average of $4,000 each.
In addition, in exchange for the plaintiffs releasing the claims against DFA and DMS, there will be safeguards put in place to prevent retaliation and anti-competitive practices against farmers; a new, independent DFA/DMS advisory council member; a farmer omsbudperson to investigate and facilitate solutions to complaints; the formation of an audit committee with two independent members; and additional, protective milk testing protocols.
When New Hampshire state representatives on the House Environment and Agriculture Committee received a copy of the proposed settlement, they “expressed their strong support of the settlement,” the order states.
Taylor, who produces milk, cheese and maple syrup in Plainfield, said he felt the settlement could help prevent anti-trust activities in the future.
“It’s not a perfect settlement by any means, but we think the non-monetary terms will go a long way,” he said.
Penacook dairy farmer and DFA New England Council delegate Rob Morrill was also pleased the case was settled. He said some of the plaintiff’s claims were “frivolous” and praised the efficiencies and services he receives as a cooperative member.
Still, he’s glad the case is closed for several reasons.
Nobody hates a several thousand dollar check, Morrill said, and now DFA/DMS could stop focusing on a lawsuit and start focusing on their main job: marketing milk.
“I’m just glad it’s over,” he said.
(Material from the Associated Press was used in this story. Elodie Reed can be reached at 369-3306, ereed@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @elodie_reed.)