Consumers can sign up for part of $52-million settlement from milk co-ops

Dairy farmers accused of killing cows to inflate milk prices.

Not too many are thinking that dairy farmers are padding their pockets.

A $52.2 million, class-action settlement, however, says otherwise and Wisconsin consumers are eligible for a portion of that money if they purchased milk since 2003.

Attorneys will receive 17.3 million in the settlement.

The lawsuit accused co-ops of killing cows to limit production and keep prices artificially high. It was field in Sept. of 2011 against the National Milk Producers Federation through Cooperatives Working Together (CWT).

The Wisconsin State Journal reported that from 2003 to 2010, members of the cooperatives representing about 70 percent of the country’s milk supply paid money into a fund that was used to buy out entire dairy farm herds that were sent to slaughter.

It also said, the voluntary “Herd Retirement Program” was offered 10 times, resulting in the slaughter of 506,921 cows and the removal of more than 9.67 billion pounds of raw milk from the market. The aim was to reduce the milk supply, raising prices, and was marketed with that message. Farmers were paid for their cows based on the cow’s average milk.

A UW economist, who didn’t agree with the settlement said farmers’ actions weren’t out of the ordinary.

“The impact was minor, ending up losing less than 1 percent of the milk supply, and the number of cows that went to slaughter included those, up to a third, that would have gone anyway,” Robert Cropp told the journal.

In the end, it translates into milk money – possibly between $45-70 – if you go to boughtmilk.com and sign up. The deadline is Jan. 31.

Eligibility depends on living in one of these 15 states – Arizona, California, the District of Columbia, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, West Virginia, or Wisconsin – between 2003 and now.