Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack recently got a pile of postcards from Dairy Farmers of America members stressing the importance of cooperatives.

Delivery of the cooperative message was made by DFA members Lee Ramsburg of Gettysburg, Pa., (left) and David Crowl of Street, Md., (center) following the last in the series of workshops conducted this year by the USDA and the Department of Justice on competition in agriculture. That final workshop was held December 8 in Washington, DC.

The two DFA representatives delivered thousands of postcards signed by DFA members expressing support for their cooperative and the Capper-Volstead Act, also known as the Co-operative Marketing Associations Act of 1922 which allowed exemptions from antitrust laws for agricultural cooperatives. They also presented Vilsack with a petition signed by DFA employees describing the importance of cooperatives to the dairy industry.