"Most of the farmers in the area have been foreclosed on," said Dexter Randall, a dairy farmer here near the border with Quebec. "In the town of Troy alone, in 1978 there were 42 operating family farms, and today there are only 12," he said.

Over the past month the U.S. Congress has been debating measures that will increase the squeeze on small farmers through changing various "price support" mechanisms. The legislators and their corporate sponsors among dairy companies are openly trying to pit farmers from various regions of the country against each other.

Price support policies by Washington always benefit the large, capitalist farmers. For example the Northeast dairy compact, which sets prices above the rest of the country, benefits the largest dairy farmers in New England the most. It puts them at a competitive advantage over small, family farmers, widening the gap between them.

In response to Congressional moves to end the Northeast Dairy Compact, though, many working farmers here organized to prevent the suspension of the pact. The end of the compact "will have a very devastating impact on the family farmer," said Randall. "We all think that the compact is not the final answer for the dairy producers and consumers, but if we do lose the compact there will be a very rapid exit of small farmers from the business."

On October 13 the United States Senate passed an agricultural bill that discontinues the compact. Later, a two-year extension was tentatively approved. The compact guaranteed New England dairy farmers a minimum price for Class I milk, or liquid milk, above that set in U.S. government price-support program. Class II and III, which are milk processed into butter, cheese, and yogurt, are not part of the compact, and constitute about half of what the dairy farmers produce.  
 

Dairy farmers confront price squeeze

Big business and milk companies have pushed for an end to the compact, which has brought $75 million to the region's dairy farmers since it was implemented in 1996. It was designed to protect New England's dairy farmers, who on average have much smaller herds than their counterparts in the Midwest and West, from fluctuations in milk prices. "For years farmers were forced to sell their farms and milk prices went down," Randall said. "Something had to be done. It took almost 10 years of pressure for the compact to come through."

Randall, his wife Alice, and two of their grown children work their dairy farm here in northern Vermont. They have 230 head of cattle, of which 100 are milkers; the rest are replacements, that is calves and other cattle not milking-ready. They raise feed corn on 30 acres of land and grass on another 200 acres. Theirs is among the nearly 1,700 dairy farms in Vermont. New England as a whole has 3,000 dairy farms.

Randall is the vice-chairman of Rural Vermont, an organization of farmers and their supporters who actively address, lobby, and fight for improving the conditions for the family farmer. In the past they have participated in actions against foreclosures, held milk strikes and struggles against monopoly prices by the big processors, and organized in support of the compact. Rural Vermont has 1,600 members, one-quarter of whom are farmers. "It is important to get the consumer on our side, to understand our common interest," said Randall.

"The compact is not the solution to the economic struggle of the small farmers today," he continued. "The main point of the compact is that it stabilizes the milk prices, and sets a minimum price. There are still fluctuations in the price, but much less than before. The compact gives us more opportunities for planning."

Even with the compact, the price received by the Vermont dairy farmer today is roughly the same as it was in 1980. Robert Judd, a dairy farmer and the Randalls' neighbor, commented, "The price we get for milk, our expenses to produce, and debt are the universal problems of small farmers in the area."

Like other working and family farmers, New England dairy farmers face rising costs for feed, veterinarian medicines, equipment, and energy. "We get the same milk price today as 20 years ago," said Dexter, so with rising costs "there is a constant need for more heads of cattle and bigger farms. It is like a treadmill."He gave the example that this year they had to replace the milk storage tank and build a new milkroom, at a cost of $40,000. "It is twice the size we can fill today, but I expect to need the capacity in a few years, just to make ends meet," he said. This year they also needed a new tractor, and purchased an eight-year-old one for $42,000. "These kind of expenses can be enough to capsize a small dairy operation these days," he said.  
 

Corporations push to end compact

The dairy corporations are leading the effort to end the compact, pretending to defend Midwest dairy farmers and consumers.

"We don't need a dairy farm in every backyard in New England," said Kathleen Nelson, spokeswoman for the International Dairy Foods Association. "New England has way more milk than it needs. Midwestern farmers should not be punished because New England cannot produce milk as efficiently."

Arthur Pappathanasi, president of the Milk Industry Foundation and chief executive officer of West Lynn Creamery in Lynn, Massachusetts, wants to derail the compact because that would allow him to command a higher price as he sells his dairy. His spokesman stated that Pappathanasi opposes the compact because it raises the price of milk and thus cuts into his sales.

"I don't think a consumer in the United States would complain if they knew that the money would go to the farmers," said Randall. "The fact is that while the consumer has paid 40 percent more for milk over the last 10 years, the farmer is getting the same price. The fluctuations in price are either picked up by the consumer who pays more, or the farmer who get less. The milk handlers get the same price regardless of supply and demand on the market," Randall explained.

Midwest Democratic and Republican party politicians also pushed for the repeal of the compact. Minnesota Department of Agriculture commissioner Gene Hugoson said, "Regional compacts are simply the wrong direction to go in as we enter the 21st century. We believe the greatest prosperity for the dairy industry lies in a less regulated, more market-driven system." Sen. Rod Grams, also from Minnesota, called the compact "a protectionist economic power grab."

But Randall said the compact is increasingly popular among dairy farmers. They have succeeded in getting more than 20 state legislatures to vote to form interstate dairy compacts, which cannot take effect without Congressional approval.

The Vermont farmer said, "there should be a compact everywhere in the United States. There is still a remote chance that the compact will be reinstated because politicians in other states will vote for it. What the milk handlers are afraid of is that if we get the compact on Class I milk in most states, it would follow that we get it on Class II and III as well. And that would dramatically raise the price farmers get paid for milk."

Margrethe Siem and Linda Marcus are members of the United Transportation Union in Boston.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home