Former state official says dairyman Goedhart’s attack on Reid “is misleading and appears to be politically motivated”

Friday, Oct. 1, 2010 | 6:20 p.m.

You may have heard or read about GOP Assemblyman Ed Goedhart attacking Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for that ad in which Anderson Dairy thanks Reid for his help. In news releases and a YouTube video, Goedhart has asserted Reid helped Anderson at the expense of his employer, Ponderosa Dairy. Goedhart has gotten some traction among conservatives and had a favorable column written in the Review-Journal.

But Goedhart has refused to comment to me or come on “Face to Face” to talk about it. Indeed, he agreed to come on and then abruptly canceled.

But now someone has come forward who can actually shed some light on what really happened. Mark French was a staffer for the state Dairy Commission when the events occurred and later executive director. He described in Reid’s ad and Goedhart’s response, which is here

Goedhartad

But now French can sit back no more and has penned the piece below that indicates Goedhart’s company actually was part of an association that asked Nevada’s senators to change the law to help them with the 2000 farm bill. That is, French is saying, Goedhart is a hypocrite who has been disingenuous about the impact on his company.

Read all about it:

Shining the light of truth on the Nevada dairy industry

This is in response to recent stories circulated in the media regarding Ed Goedhart’s claim that Ponderosa Dairy has been unfavorably impacted by the dairy legislation passed with Senator Harry Reid’s assistance. There are many factual untruths presented by Mr. Goedhart that demand a response.

During the time that deliberations were being made to change the Federal Milk Marketing Order that impacted Southern Nevada, a consortium of milk producers, processors, Teamsters Union and the Nevada State Dairy Commission united together to remove Nevada dairies from onerous Federal regulations that put Nevada dairies at a competitive disadvantage within our own markets. Ponderosa Dairy, (the very dairy where Ed Goedhart is the manager!), was in full support of the Federal Exemption and indeed was signatory to the letter recommending that Nevada be exempted! It is incredible that Mr. Goedhart claims that Ponderosa Dairy is somehow the victim of legislation they supported – in person and in writing! Here are some of the salient points exposing the untruths of Mr. Goedhart’s statements:

• Beginning in 1999, a united consortium of Security Milk Producers, Ponderosa Dairy (yes, the same dairy managed by Ed Goedhart), Amargosa Dairy, Pahrump Dairy, Moapa Dairy, Anderson Dairy, Teamsters Union and the Nevada State Dairy Commission, communicated with Senators Richard Bryan and Harry Reid to begin dialogue to support exempting Clark County from proposed changes in the 2000 Farm Bill.

• As a result of the united effort of the above entities, Clark County was ultimately exempted from the Arizona Federal Milk Marketing Order (of which Clark County was to be a part) which kept Clark County dairies from being placed at an industry killing pricing disadvantage. Prior to that time, Clark County was the only county in Nevada with milk producers or processors being Federally regulated.

• It must be understood that for many years prior to this legislation being passed, milk marketed by Security Milk Producers, of which Ponderosa Dairy is a member, was shipped into Southern California. It is absolutely disingenuous for Mr. Goedhart to assert that somehow he “now” has to ship milk 280 miles when that is the very thing they have done for decades to take advantage of a loophole of California milk laws.

• Further, if Ponderosa Dairy currently ships milk 280 miles into California, it is likely to circumvent the State of California’s milk regulations because of Federal Interstate Commerce laws. For that reason, it is likely that much of Ponderosa Dairy’s milk is shipped to their own milk processing facility in Downey, California.

• This has unfortunately become a political issue. Notwithstanding how it is perceived, it should be understood that at its foundation, the whole purpose of the exemption was to maintain the viability of the Nevada dairy industry. This allowed the milk industry in Nevada to survive in the face of Federal Regulations which would have decimated Nevada dairies and likely crippled the industry. It is ironic that Senator Reid is being maligned in this instance for lessening Federal regulations, which in this instance, has directly allowed Nevada dairies to survive.

Federal milk price formulations are complicated. The issues and truth behind the above explanation is not. Having Clark County removed from the Federal Milk Marketing Order has been a positive development for both Nevada consumers and the entire Nevada dairy industry, and has created a more positive environment for other dairy processors, such as Dean Foods (Meadow Gold), to establish operations in Clark County. Mr. Goedhart’s narrative is misleading and appears to be politically motivated.