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 surprising is this: If all the dairy farms in Vermont went out of business tomorrow, it’d be a mere blip on the nation’s radar.
Vermont’s 142,000 cows represent 1.5 percent of the 9 million dairy cows in the U.S. If every Vermont farmer took the herd buyout, it would help to shift production levels, and therefore raise prices, but the impact would be temporary.
The state’s farmers only produce 1.3 percent of the nation’s milk, Parsons says, and yet our population is too small to consume what they make. Eighty-five percent of Vermont’s milk has to be shipped out of state.
“On the national scene, if all the farms in Vermont went out of milk production, it would help the rest of the farmers but they’d probably like to see even a little bit more,” Parsons says.
Even though our milk production has been going down in Vermont, other states have been seeing an increase, according to Parsons. Last month, Vermont produced 4.5 percent less milk, while New York was up 2.5 percent and Wisconsin and Minnesota were up 4-5 percent.
While there are a handful of farms with 1,000 cows or more in Vermont, out West dairies have herds as large as 10,000. The average farm in California has 968 cows; New Mexico’s average herd is 2,100, according to Don Blayney, an agricultural economist with the Economic Research Service at USDA.
Still, Vermont’s average farm size of 120-130 isn’t that far off the national average of 167, Blayney says.
The factor that sets Vermont apart from the rest of the country is the cost of feeding cows. The state’s hilly terrain and cold weather make it more expensive to farm here. Farmers have to buy almost all of their grain, which significantly drives up the cost of production.
“We’d like to think Vermont’s a great place to live, but from an agricultural standpoint you’re competing with people in other parts of the country,” Parsons says. “We think we’re close to metro areas, but central Pennsylvania is just as close to Hartford, Conn., as Vermont is.
On a national level, Parsons says, Vermont has a declining share of the agricultural market.
And that fact has significant political implications. How can Vermont make the argument that its dairy industry is vital to the nation’s food security when it contributes such a small percentage to total market share?
“It’s ironic. If you go to Sens. Leahy and Sanders and Rep. Welch who are trying to get something done in Washington, they’re dealing with a national scene down there,” Parsons says. “Guys from Wisconsin say it’s a little tough, but we’re getting by. Unless you have a crisis all over I’m not sure what it will take to get attention down there.”
Copyright, Vtdigger.org
