As more organic dairy farmers are forced to close their businesses by the economic crisis they face, Vermont advocates and producers are seeking a one-time state allocation of $9.2 million to help existing organic dairies survive.
The money would be used to pay the now 139 organic dairy farms in Vermont back payments of $5 per hundred pounds of milk on all organic milk produced in the state in 2022, Maddie Kempner, policy director for the Organic Agriculture Association of the Northeast Vermont said at a joint meeting of the Vermont State Senate and House agriculture committees on Thursday.
“Multiple factors have converged in recent months to create an impossible economic situation for organic dairy farms,” he said. “The combination of inflation, supply chain disruptions in feed supply due to the conflict in Ukraine and a persistent drought have caused the price of feed, fuel and labor to rise sharply from the end of 2021 At the same time, the organic payment price farmers receive has stagnated between $8 and $10 per quintal below the cost of production.”
CLIMATE CHANGE PROPOSALS PUT US FOOD SUPPLY AT RISK, SAYS DAIRY FARMER
Vermont had 169 certified organic dairies as of the end of 2020. As of Wednesday, the number had dwindled to 139 and the state is expected to lose 25 to 30 more in the coming months “without prompt and substantial intervention,” he said.
The Northeast Vermont Organic Agriculture Association receives daily calls from farmers who have defaulted on their loans to have cash to continue operating; they already put their cows or entire farms up for sale; or their grain sales have been cut off because they can’t afford the cost, Kempner said.
Vermont dairy farmers forced to close their businesses by a looming economic crisis turned to the state for financial assistance.
Half a dozen farmers also told lawmakers about what they’ve been going through.
“Honestly, I have to pay this money from the neighbours. Like the guy who spreads my manure, my hoof clippers, stuff,” said Marcy Guillette, a fourth-generation organic dairy farmer in Derby, through tears. “That’s all it is”.
FARMER PREDICTS WORSE FOOD SHORTAGES, HIGHER PRICES IN 2023 AMID INFLATION, DROUGHT AND INTEREST RATE RISES
She rents the farm from her parents, but said she doesn’t know how she could write a business plan to buy the farm with the current situation.
For Lilac Ridge Farm in Brattleboro, the back pay would be about $20,000, owner Ross Thurber said.
“What would that do? That would help us catch up on payments that we have deferred or are paying slowly, and it would essentially bring us to zero,” he said.
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At the federal level, the US Department of Agriculture recently announced the finalization of two federal rules that are expected to level the playing field in the organic dairy industry, Kempner said. She has also announced some relief for organic dairy farmers, but the Northeast Vermont Organic Farming Association doesn’t expect it to be enough or available in time to keep struggling dairies in business, she said.
