Last-minute wrangling between the House and Senate in Washington this fall has left an important dairy program in limbo.
And the loss of the program could mean dairy farmers in Vermont and New Hampshire could lose tens of millions of dollars.
The Vermont Standard's Kevin Forrest reports:
The drone of the milk pump drowns out the sounds of cows contentedly chewing their hay in the barn at the Doton farm in Barnard, Vt.
The animals appear blissfully unaware of the swirl of politics that surround the milk they produce.
The latest twist in national dairy policy occurred in October.
A House-Senate conference committee in Washington left an important dairy support system hanging.
And the failure to renew the Milk Income Loss Contract, or MILC, worries farmers like Paul Doton.
Doton Course the state of Vermont is the most dependent state on dairy income of any state in the country so it?s important to our economy and to me personally.
In Vermont more than 11 hundred farms have collected about 45 million dollars in subsidies the past two years from the MILC program.
That's about 10 times more than what New Hampshire dairymen have received.
But only about 170 New Hampshire farms have taken part in the program.
Lawmakers crafted The M.I.L.C. after the demise of the Northeast Dairy Compact in 2001.
But if the MILC program also disappears, Doton could face serious trouble.
Like most farmers, he takes on extra work to make ends meet.
Doton We do most anything to increase the income, to keep the income coming in. But the bottom line is at least 85 percent of our income is from the production of milk.
Both the Dairy Compact and the MILC have attempted to even the playing field for northeast dairy farmers.
Because of smaller herds and other reasons, northeast dairymen typically face higher production costs than their Midwest and western counterparts.
When surplus dairy makes prices drop, the MILC and its predecessor have made up the difference.
But one distinction between the programs is that the compact was financially self-sustaining.
The MILC is supported through taxes.
This makes it a political football when lawmakers in Washington start addressing the federal deficit.
Steve Kerr is Vermont?s Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets.
He says even a sacred cow like a dairy farm becomes vulnerable when money?s tight.
Kerr If congress finally wakes up and says boy, you know we?ve got to deal with this big run up in spending, then all programs like MILC in and out of agriculture are going to be under the microscope because of their cost.
Political observers say the MILC was caught between the conflicting interests of milk processors, western dairy producers and beneficiaries of the program.
Kerr says the timing of MILC?s sunset is unfortunate.
Dairy prices are predicted to start falling soon after the program ends next September.
Kerr 6 The market price is falling, MILC perhaps not available to buffer that decline--that won?t be good for the New England dairy industry, to be very blunt.
To enjoy MILC benefits, farmers have to put up with some government meddling.
This bothers longtime yankee farmers who don't like the government in their business?no matter what
Sheldon Sawyer owns a dairy farm in Walpole, NH.
Sawyer I have an aversion for having government officials come onto my land and inspect it. Just one of those idiosyncrasies that I have.
Sawyer doesn?t participate in MILC.
He believes in some agricultural support programs.
But he thinks MILC bribes farmers to take measures they wouldn?t normally do.
Sawyer I think that it behooves the government to make it a level playing field to keep agriculture as viable as possible. I don?t appreciate what I call bribery and that is we?ll give you money if you do something whether you like to do it or not and if you?re a farmer and you?re desperate you?ll accept the money.
Sawyer didn?t like certain land management measures attached to MILC. He has, however, participated in federal programs that help stem pollution.
Sawyer?s refusal to enroll in MILC has carried a price.
He estimates he lost $60,000 over two years.
Sawyer It was a couple of very difficult years to produce and you basically dipped into your assets if you didn?t accept the program.
Sawyer says he bears no grudge against farmers who participate in programs like MILC.
But he believes he made his point.
Sawyer I don?t tell my neighbor he?s crazy for taking it. I understand why he did. I certainly don?t chastise him for doing that. But I?m just glad that I was able to weather the storm, so to speak.
Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy has fought hard for the MILC renewal.
And his spokesperson, David Carle, says the Senator may still be successful
Carle Through Senator Leahy?s and Senators Kohl?s efforts this fall we now know there is sufficient support in the Senate to pass it. And through these efforts as well, President Bush is on the record for the first time as supporting the extension.
While Carle predicts the Senate may pass some sort of MILC renewal, the US House is less certain.
Still, Vermont's Agriculture Secretary Steve Kerr remains optimistic.
Kerr I would remind all of the pessimists and cynics and skeptics that in fact every time that the compact has been declared dead senators Leahy and Jeffords and in fact the rest of the New England delegation has resurrected it.
For NHPR news this is Kevin Forrest in Reading, Vt.
