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Dairy crisis
Keep Local Farms lands two contracts
Ten cents of every pint of milk students at the University of Vermont and Harvard University buy will be passed on to dairy farmers. UVM launched its Keep Local Farms fund-raising campaign on Monday. Harvard joined the program on Oct. 19.
The slight price hike is part of a fund-raising and marketing campaign to raise money and the profile of New England dairy farmers who have seen significant declines in income… Continue reading
Break-even milk prices won’t be enough to save some of Vermont’s dairy farms
Milk prices are going up in December, and the federal government has said it will purchase $60 million worth of cheese and make $290 million in direct payments to the nation’s dairy farmers. Continue reading
Got too much milk?
Nation’s largest dairy coop floats supply management plan
Vermont coops weigh programs to rein in milk supply Raw milk is a highly perishable product. Once it leaves the cow’s udder, it has to be processed into bottled milk, cheese, butter or yogurt within a few days. That fact makes dairy farmers more vulnerable to the vagaries of the market than other food producers. Dairymen (and women) can’t wait for a better price. Unlike… Continue reading
Antitrust division to probe complaints about Dean Foods’ alleged monopolistic practices
Justice official says “competition isn’t well served when one player controls 70 percent of the market”
Senators say dairy industry consolidation hurting farmers A lack of competition may allow dominant dairy processors to “exert power” and depress the price farmers receive for raw milk, according to Christine Varney, the assistant attorney general for the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, who spoke at a congressional hearing held in St. Albans… Continue reading
On the dairy beat
Fair dairy? State hopes consumers will pay more for milk, make donations to farmers
The cost of production calculus
Dairy farmers tough out costliest downturn
Economist says state could lose 150 farms by next summer
Vermont's dairy industry blip on national radar
Communities where dairy is king take a hit economically
Losses driving farms deep into debt
Dairy downturn whacks related businesses
Fair dairy?
State hopes consumers will pay more
for milk, make donations to farmers
Got milk?
Got a little extra money to pay for it? And by the way, wanna donate cash for a T-shirt?
Those are the questions Vermont's Agency of Agriculture is putting to the public on the new Web site it’s unveiling today at a press conference at the… Continue reading 
The cost of production calculus
“You’d have to kind of wake up and think that the planets and stars are all lined up against you. A poor harvest at the same time you have low milk prices and high feed prices – that combination is like three hits in the gut in a row.” -- Bob Parsons, agricultural economist for UVM Extension Continue reading
Dairy farmers tough out costliest downturn
Milk market crash, rise in costs a double whammy
The Clifford Farm in Starksboro In spite of what some in the industry are calling the worst ever returns on dairying, Eric Clifford is carrying on the family tradition come hell or high water. He’s determined to keep the land his forebears cultivated – all seven generations of them – in farming. It hasn’t been easy. Since dairy prices plummeted to $11-$12 hundredweight (the… Continue reading
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 you didn’t know any better, you might… Continue reading 
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 is a big economic driver in the state: It generates $2 billion in gross revenues. What is… Continue readingSponsor
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