Reaction Of Sen. Patrick Leahy,
Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee,
To The Justice Department's Conditions
For The Suiza-Dean Foods Merger
Dec. 18, 2001

"Concentration in the agricultural processing sectors is emerging as a major blight on both farmers and consumers, and Suiza is Exhibit A.

"Suiza already controls most of the milk supply in New England, and this merger will lead to higher prices for consumers there and throughout much of the nation. Especially in the Northeast, the proposed merger formula outlined by the Department of Justice will do nothing to forestall the emerging 'Suizopoly' that threatens to control both the purchase of milk from farmers and the sale of milk to consumers.

"This pattern is chillingly described in a major recent study by the University of Connecticut, showing how New England farmers' share for their labor keeps falling while processor profits rise and consumers pay more and more for milk."

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[The U. Conn. report, by Ronald W. Cotterill, is available on the Web at:
http://www.sp.uconn.edu/~cotteril/CompactStudy.html]