Who has the rights to call their cheese,feta,only farmers in the EU? A new report analyzed by Senior Trade Editor of Agri-Pulse Bill Tomson by Informa Economics warns that the American dairy industry stands to lose billions of dollars if the U.S. were to agree to EU demands that hundreds of cheese names be used exclusively by European producers in specific geographical regions. The report was commissioned by the Consortium for Common Food Names, which is supported by the American Farm Bureau Federation, the International Dairy Foods Association and other U.S. and Canadian ag groups. If the U.S. dairy sector was unable to use what producers consider common product names like Asiago, feta and Parmesan, the damage would be severe, forcing some farms to eventually shut down completely, according to the report. And an it’s second effort to help US Dairy farmers in seven weeks USDA says it's planning to buy $20 million worth of domestic cheddar cheese in a renewed effort to soak up record surpluses and boost prices for dairy farmers.

The National Milk Producers Federation has expressed thanks for the purchases, but the group had previously said USDA would need to buy at least $150 million worth of cheese - about 90 million pounds - to significantly improve prices.

 

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