Desperate times for dairy farmers
Economist: 150 farms could go out by next summer You’ve read the headlines. The dairy industry is in crisis. Milk prices have fallen to 30-year lows. Worldwide demand for cheese and powdered milk has plummeted because of the global recession. Farmers are eating into their equity to survive. But how bad is it, really? If [...]
Dairy: The big picture
How Vermont compares with the rest of the nation Vermont is more dependent on one single commodity – milk – than any other state in the nation. Seventy percent of the state’s agricultural production comes from the dairy industry, according to Bob Parsons, University of Vermont Extension agricultural economist. So it’s not surprising that dairy [...]
Pillar of rural economy teetering
Communities where dairy is king take a hit economically Dairy farming is the economic engine of small town Vermont, but the industry doesn’t garner the attention paid to monolithic employers, such as IBM and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters. No one is proposing a Circ Highway expansion for milk trucks, or economic development incentives to keep [...]
Losses driving farms into debt
Lenders see large increase in borrowing for expenses State officials and lenders say Vermont dairy farmers have been losing $100 per cow a month. That means the average farm with 120 cows has lost about $84,000 since milk prices plummeted to historic lows in February. Large farms of 700 to 1,000 cows have lost $490,000 [...]
Dairy downturn whacks related businesses
Unpaid bills pile up at local graineries, equipment dealers see business slow Vermont farmers are sustaining unprecedented financial losses this year, and many are juggling bills in order to survive the severest downturn in memory. As Diane Bothfeld, dairy policy analyst at the state Agency of Agriculture put it, “They’re shuffling who gets paid every [...]
Court mandates psychiatric treatment, special services for mentally ill offenders
Low-cost program yields results At the Chittenden County Mental Health Court, clients bypass district court and possibly jail time. They receive social services instead, and in exchange for successfully completing their court programs, which may include sanctions, their criminal records are expunged. More than 100 offenders have filtered through the mental health court and compared [...]
How the Chittenden court works
Offenders with mental illnesses are referred to the court by lawyers, judges, police officers, treatment providers and family members when their criminal behavior is driven by mental illness. They may also self-refer. A clinician assesses offenders for a qualifying mental illness or other serious functional impairment that has led to the commission of the crime, [...]
Jody Williams may be a peacenik …
I think if you’re going to make a decision to kill people, you have to be pretty damn clear about why you’re doing it.
About Jody Williams
The backstory Jody Williams won the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize for her work with the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. She launched the group in 1991 and in just six years, the campaign led 1,000 organizations in 60 countries to push for a ban of the manufacture, export and use of landmines, which kill or [...]
