An amazing story in Sunday’s Washington Post details the story of one dairyman who exposed and worked around the anticompetitive system that controls U.S. milk production.

Developed for a bygone era of small dairies and decentralized milk plants, the system lives on when 3,000-cow dairies are not uncommon and huge cooperatives and food companies dominate the business.

Business groups, fiscal conservatives and some dairy organizations have called for Congress to overhaul the complex system of protections and subsidies, which they say is costly to taxpayers and consumers. A recent USDA study acknowledged that “dairy programs raise the retail price” of milk. The watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste estimates that the programs cost U.S. consumers at least $1.5 billion a year.

Operating on his own, Hein Hettinga was selling milk for 20 cents a gallon less than Big Dairy. The industry had in its pocket Senators Harry Reid (D-NV) and Jon Kyl (R-AZ), and Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA).

Despite having some large dairies in his own district, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jerry Lewis (R-CA) didn’t like writing summary legislation that targeted one person. It was good to see someone acting on principle.

The legislative fight is an interesting read. It is sad to see Republicans behaving in this way. The Depression-era milk system needs to be scrapped. It harms small dairies and causes us to pay higher milk prices.