Area millet producers debate marketing order
On Friday, June 22, Colorado Agriculture Commissioner Don Brown conducted a public hearing to hear and record testimony on the need to conduct a referendum of millet producers to determine whether they support a millet marketing order.
The hearing was requested by the High Plains Millet Association, which supports a producer referendum to establish a millet marketing order to self-fund vital education, research and marketing programs. The HPMA was founded in March 2017, and in May 2018, Governor John Hickenlooper signed a bill to allow the producer referendum marketing order.
At the public hearing, the roughly 25 people in attendance were given a rough draft of the proposed millet marketing order. It is a long order, but millet producers were present to give their opinions on the order. Brown introduced those who had come with him for the hearing: Glenda Mostek, marketing specialist; Tom Lipetzky, market division director; and Charles Kooyman, assistant attorney general. Kooyman came to make sure the hearing was run according to Colorado statutes.
Brown had to read information before producers could voice their opinions so that the hearing was legal. Those who were going to speak were then sworn in. Riley Strand is a millet producer and farms with his parents. He asked if the marketing order would deal more with marketing or research.
“I don’t see the return on our investment for research. We need to focus more on marketing our product,” Strand said.
Darren Bauder of Fleming is on the HPMA’s board of directors, and he said that he is against the marketing order. Ray Strand, Riley’s father, then spoke against the order.
“We don’t necessarily need research. I am more afraid the market will be destroyed. Pushing more millet on the market will not be good. To start, we should make it only about marketing and come back in five years or so and then see about research. I don’t see anything but pain with this order,” Ray said.
“A large number of millet producers didn’t get the card telling us about the meeting. I am against the order. I felt the survey sent out by the HPMA wasn’t neutral and that it wasn’t worded well,” said Ray’s wife, Sally Strand.
The president of the board of the HPMA, Chris Stum, was the next to speak. He gave some of the results of the survey and most producers were for the marketing order. Stum said the one handed out at the hearing is not the final marketing order, it is just a rough draft and that he knows changes will be made before it is sent out to producers to vote on.
“Colorado is the No. 1 producer of millet in the United States. Producers need to look out for themselves and I am in favor of this marketing order,” Stum said.
“It has been a lot of years that we have been trying to get something going with millet. The order gives us an opportunity to enhance the marketing. This order is a starting point and I know we need to make changes. I think the administrative costs should be handled by the administration and not by the producers. I want that money to go to the producers. There is definitely a potential in millet production. We need more marketing ideas. I see this as an opportunity for producers to better themselves,” Lane Stum added.
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