In a display of support for Senator Leahy's ongoing efforts to save family farms in New England, Cabot Creamery sent enough cheddar to nourish the members of the House-Senate Conference Committee as they began negotiations Tuesday on the Federal Farm Bill.
"Senators Leahy and Jeffords, as well as Congressman Sanders, have long championed the cause of dairy farmers. Senator Leahy's seat on the Farm Bill House-Senate Conference Committee, which is currently negotiating the Federal Farm Bill, is critical to the survival of countless dairy farms throughout the country," states Robert Wellington - Economist for Agri-Mark/Cabot. "The farm families of Cabot and Agri-Mark join our fellow dairy farmers throughout the region and across the country in support for the Senator's tireless efforts on our behalf." Senator Leahy is specifically fighting for a dairy subsidy component of the bill designed to provide a safety net for dairy farmers in the absence of the New England Dairy Compact. Similar in nature to the Dairy Compact, the subsidy would come into effect when milk prices fell substantially below the farmer's cost of producing the milk. Family dairy farms are particularly at risk of going out of business when milk prices collapse and there is no safety net in place..
"New England dairy farmers deserve an adequate safety net," said Sen. Leahy. "Vermont dairy farmers do more than make for a charming and beautiful state, they provide our state and country with dairy products, like award-winning Cabot cheese. I will continue to fight for the dairy provision and will not be satisfied until it passes."
There are approximately 75,000 dairy farms throughout the country and of those 1,700 are located in Vermont. Prior to this bill, dairy farms in the U.S. have been going out of business at a rate of more than 1,000 a year. This bill, with the dairy subsidy intact, would stem that rate of attrition. Without it, the annual loss of dairy farms will continue to increase.
Cabot Creamery Cooperative has been in continuous operation in Vermont since 1919 and makes a full line of cheeses, yogurt, sour cream, cottage cheese and butter. Cabot is owned by the dairy farm families of Agri-Mark, the Northeast's premier dairy cooperative.:
