U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has appointed 17 people -- including Andrew M. Novakovic, the E.V. Baker Professor of Agricultural Economics at Cornell -- to a new federal Dairy Industry Advisory Committee.

Over the next two years, the committee will review farm milk price volatility, dairy farmer profitability and consolidation, and offer suggestions on how the U.S. Department of Agriculture can best address the needs of a struggling dairy industry.

Beyond the general effects of the "great recession," Novakovic says U.S. dairy farmers have recently been battered by rising input costs, a collapse in exports and very low milk prices.

"The USDA has worked tirelessly to assist dairy farmers during these tough times," said Vilsack. "This committee, whose members come from all aspects of the dairy industry, will work to find long term solutions to assist this struggling industry."

Novakovic also serves as director of the Cornell Program on Dairy Marketing and Policy and co-director of the National Institute for Livestock and Dairy Policy. The author or co-author of more than 300 publications, including some 40 peer-reviewed articles, his research focuses on the economics of dairy markets, spanning federal and state price policies, marketing operations and market performance.

Novakovic's extension program stresses economic and policy analysis and aims to focus on issues of current and future importance to policymakers and industry decision-makers. He also teaches policy, management and leadership in the Department of Applied Economics and Management's Top 10 undergraduate business degree program.