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Dairy crisis
Vermont Receives $5.7 Million in Emergency Dairy Payments
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today announced that $5.7 million in emergency support to more than 1,000 Vermont dairy farmers has been released. The assistance, coming at a time when dairy farmers have experienced the lowest prices in 40 years, is part of a $350 million dairy assistance measure sponsored by Sanders. 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
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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