News from NOFA/Massachusetts
Support Dairies in Massachusetts
162 out of the 189 dairy farmers in Massachusetts signed a petition asking the State Department of Agricultural Resources to declare an economic emergency for the state's dairy industry. In recent years, farm milk prices have collapsed-this year, farmers earned less than they did 25 years ago. Partnered with last year's bad weather for hay and forages, and the rising cost of grain, electricity, fuel, labor and living expenses, many farmers are suffering severe economic hardships. And a new season with new expenses is on the horizon.
Recognizing the difficulties Northeast dairy farmers face, Connecticut, Vermont and Maine have provided their farmers with temporary financial relief. Farmers in Massachusetts are calling for their state to do the same. They are asking their legislators to approve a Supplemental Budget Proposed for a Short Term Relief Package for Dairy Farmers in Massachusetts. The bill would provide $12 million of emergency payments to dairy farms at a target price of $18 per hundred weight (cwt), retroactive from April 2006-an estimated payment of 40 cents per gallon (farmers now earn on average $1.14 per gallon).
The proposed legislation addresses long-term solutions by creating an Open Space Preservation Fund, which would provide a source from which money could be distributed to dairy farmers on a monthly basis-based on milk prices set by the federal government- to foster the preservation of open space, environmental stewardship and tourism, and the quality of life associated with an agrarian culture.
Without support from the Massachusetts government, one-third of the dairies in Massachusetts are likely to go out of business within the next 12 months. As Sherry Hager, of Hager Bros Dairy in Colrain explained, the requested support would simply give dairy farmers " a living wage."
NOFA/Mass supports this emergency relief as a stop gap measure to help dairy farmers stay in business. To lose one-third of the dairies in Massachusetts would be a serious loss to our communities in terms of open space, history, and most importantly, local sources of fresh milk and dairy products. This economic support also would assist those dairy farmers who want to transition to organic as a way to remain environmentally and economically sustainable. Organic dairy farmers today receive on average $27.00 cwt-more than twice what conventional farmers earn.
Show your support for local dairies by asking your State Senator and Representative, particularly in the Metro Boston area, to approve the Short Term Relief Package for Dairy Farmers in Massachusetts. Find your legislator's contact
information at www.mass.gov/legis/citytown.htm.
For more information about the Massachusetts dairy crisis, contact Kate Rossiter,
NOFA/Mass Organic Dairy Coordinator, at (413) 625-0118, or krossiter@nofam0.org. Or visit the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources website, http://www.mass.gov/agr/dairy/petition.htm.
This page was last modified on January 21, 2008 at 5:34:17 PM.
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