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- Identify yourself (tell them where you live, how many family members are involved in the farm, how many cows you milk, acres you farm, etc.)
- Explain what the impact of the current crisis has been (For example: "I am losing $100 per cow per month due since January" or "it takes 90% of my milk check to cover my feed costs alone") and if you have one example that stands out use it to enforce the personal impact on your family. (For example: "I had to get food stamps this month" or "my children couldn't take their animals to the fair because we have no extra money").
- Find out who the staff member is in their office who deals with agriculture issues. Because they are busy, they delegate certain issues to individual staff members who need resources in their specific districts to communicate with. Get to know the staff members and let them know they can contact you if they have issues about dairy. Send them articles or research papers that support your position.
- Do not berate or personally attack a person or group.
- Try to tell what you support or do not support, but use facts to support your assertions. Instead of saying "MPCs are bad for the farmer" state "MPC imports hurt me as a farmer because they allow the amount of milk necessary to make cheese to be reduced by 30%". Tell them specifically what you support. Your Congressman or Senator deals with thousands of issues and each issue is equally as important to that constituent as yours is to you. For years they have heard dairy farmers complain, but without guidance, they simply defer to the regular players in Washington for solutions. Be specific such as "The dairy industry has developed a supply management plan called the Dairy Price Stabilization Program (DPSP) that I support and should it come before Congress, I ask that you support it because it would be beneficial to dairy farmers of all sizes from coast to coast."
- Send them a thank you note!
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