If recent trends in American politics have you searching for something to feel patriotic about, you might consider the following facts:
The average American ate an all-time high of 6.5 pounds of butter in 2023. That same year, we consumed 661 pounds per person of dairy products in general, matching the all-time record we set in 2021 (look at us go!).
Those are some of the more eye-popping statistics included in Vermont Dairy Delivers, a report released last month documenting the evolution of Vermont’s dairy industry over the past decade.
“In that time, dairy has become more than just a tradition in Vermont,” Anson Tebetts, Vermont’s secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets, said Wednesday while presenting the report to members of the House Committee on Agriculture. “It’s a modern economic engine. It’s rooted in our rural communities, in all of our 14 counties, and growing stronger every year.”
In all, the state’s dairy industry accounts for $5.4 billion in economic activity annually, the report says, almost 12% of the state’s approximately $45.7 billion gross domestic product. That’s up from $2.6 billion when a similar report was last compiled a decade ago. During that same time period, the number of dairy processors — meaning makers of things like cheese or butter — in the state jumped from 95 to 158.
According to the report, Vermont produces 2.15 billion pounds of cow, goat and sheep milk annually — or about 250 million gallons — which accounts for about 63% of all milk produced in New England (take that, Maine). Milk made in Vermont goes toward producing a spate of dairy products, from butter and heavy cream to award-winning cheeses and goat milk gelato.
But even as overall dairy production remains strong in Vermont, the number of individual dairy farms in the state has actually plummeted in the past century, a trend that has intensified in recent years as the industry has undergone rapid consolidation.
According to the report, Vermont had about 480 dairy farms operating in 2024 — a little over half as many as there were in 2013. In 1950, for reference, the state had more than 10,000 dairies in operation. Meanwhile, the number of dairy cows per farm has increased by roughly 80% to 254 in the last decade.
“We have seen consolidation of dairy, just like just about every other industry in the United States,” Tebbetts said.
The numbers may finally be leveling off, though. Agriculture officials told lawmakers that only three dairies closed in Vermont since the report was compiled earlier this year. But five more have opened: three dairies with sheep, one with goats and one with cows.
“It’s really trending in a positive direction,” said Laura Ginsburg, dairy strategy and innovation manager for Vermont’s agriculture department.
— Habib Sabet
In the know
Over the past several months, Vermont lawmakers and state officials have been preoccupied with the fate of the state’s largest health insurance company.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont is the only health insurance company based in Vermont. The nonprofit covers roughly a third of the state’s population across all its plans, and is facing a financial crisis with little recent precedent due to a multiyear surge in insurance claims.
In 2019, the insurer had $133.5 million in the bank. At the end of 2024, Blue Cross Blue Shield had just $58 million — and pays out an average of $35 million a week in claims. Last year, credit rating agency A.M. Best downgraded Blue Cross Blue Shield’s rating twice, bringing its score from B++ to C++. That’s moved the insurer’s rating from “good” to “marginal” in a matter of less than six months.
“I’ve lived and worked in Vermont for 45 years,” Don George, the CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield, told lawmakers in the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare last month. “And I’ve just never seen anything remotely close to what we’re going through now.”
Read more about the roots of the insurer’s financial crisis and how lawmakers are responding here.
— Peter D’Auria
On the move
After an influx of support in both chambers, the House passed a bipartisan tax credit package on Wednesday featuring a long-debated expansion of the state’s military pension tax exemption.
The proposal, S.51, includes several ideas pitched by Republican Gov. Phil Scott and celebrated by Democratic legislative leaders as progressive tax policy. The suite of tax credits and exemptions are expected to reduce state tax revenue by more than $13 million annually.
Rep. Bill Canfield, R-Fair Haven, serves as vice chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, which drafted the bill. He told his colleagues he’d submitted similar legislation for two decades without success. “I appreciate your leadership, cooperation and compromise,” he told Rep. Emilie Kornheiser, D-Brattleboro, the committee’s chair.
S.51, as passed by the House, exempts military pensions and survivor’s benefits for people with adjusted gross income under $125,000, and creates a partial exemption for those making less than $175,000.
The bill also creates a $250 refundable tax credit for low-income veterans — not just those with military pensions — who make less than $25,000, with a partial credit available for those making less than $30,000.
While the veteran-related credits have drawn the most political attention, they make up less than a third of the cost of the overall package.
Read about the rest of the tax credits and exemptions in the bill here.
— Ethan Weinstein
Visit our 2025 bill tracker for the latest updates on major legislation we are following.
Federal forests
Amid a wave of directives from the administration of President Donald Trump authorizing increased logging on the nation’s forests, Vermonters are assessing what impacts these actions could have.
On March 1, the Trump administration issued an executive order to expand timber harvesting. As part of the order, administration officials were tasked with examining existing laws to identify ways to streamline environmental review processes to implement expanded timber production.
In a map included in the secretary’s announcement, the federal land available for logging under the emergency declaration includes a sizable portion of the Green Mountain National Forest, which are woodlands that stretch through the southeastern and central region of the state.
According to an analysis by the Natural Resources Defense Council, slightly more than 200,000 acres in Vermont are affected by the memorandum, which comprises 24% of Vermont’s federally owned land.
Read more about the new federal timber harvesting directives and how Vermonters are reacting here.
— Greta Solsaa
Correction: An earlier version of this newsletter misrendered the name of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
