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The Vermont Milk Commission - Stabilizing Dairy Farm Numbers – What About Consumers?

By Diane Bothfeld, VT Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets

The Vermont Milk Commission endorses a program, that equalizes the supply and demand of milk to stabilize milk volumes at the national level and stabilize milk prices for all dairy farmers. This Growth Management Plan would prescribe a base of milk and require farmers that go over this base to pay a fee to access the market, providing a signal that the added milk is not needed to meet the domestic market, export market and meet a 30 day emergency supply of dairy products for the nation.  How would a Growth Management Plan impact a consumer?

Research completed by Dr. Mark Stephenson (University of Wisconsin – Madison) and Dr. Charles Nicholson (Cornell University) on the impact of a market access program (base of milk and paid on milk over base to access the market – similar to Milk Commission Growth Management Plan) would be positive for dairy farmers but could increase the price of dairy products to consumers.  A growth management plan could stem the decline in farm numbers but increase dairy product prices.  Increased prices are always a concern and a decline in the purchase and consumption of dairy products must be taken seriously. 

At the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets questions have been posed by consumers – What can I do to assist dairy farmers?  The answer is always consuming more dairy products, but this could be expanded to “support your local community by supporting your local dairy farmer”.  The number of dairy farms has an impact on local communities – through taxes, purchases at local stores and involvement in the community. 

Research completed at the Agency of Commerce in 2015 showed that dairy farmers have a positive impact on Vermont’s economy, with the majority of the impact in rural areas.  Each Vermont dairy cow provides $12,500 in economic activity to the state annually and dairy brings approximately $3 million in circulating cash to the state of Vermont on a daily basis.  But these are economic numbers.  Dairy businesses spend some $500 million to support Vermont’s “agricultural web” of goods and services needed for all types of farming—like competitive pricing for farming equipment and machinery, hay and feed, veterinarians, etc.  Vermonters also value dairy farmers for other reasons!

In November 2014, the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets and the Castleton Polling Institute conducted a telephone poll of a representative sample of 271 Vermonters. The resulting report, Dairy in Vermont: Vermonters’ Views, provides a fascinating snapshot of how Vermonters view the dairy business that so defines our state.

  • 91% say dairy is important to Vermont’s quality of life
  • 91% believe buying locally produced products is important
  • 85% are willing to pay a little more to ensure their dairy products are sourced from Vermont
  • 84% of Vermonters agree dairy is important to Vermont’s tourism industry
  • 66% of Vermonters use farmland for recreation

Dairy farmers are the backbone of many local community functions in rural areas.  When others commute to jobs in urban areas, dairy farmers are in the local community during the day.  Many dairy farmers serve on the volunteer fire and rescue squads – forming the first line of defense in communities when all others have commuted off to jobs in urban areas.  Dairy farmers allow access to their land for recreation like hunting, snowmobiling, cross country skiing and snowshoeing.

Would consumers be willing to pay more for dairy products if the number of dairy farms were stabilized in Vermont?  When consumers ask the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets what they can do for dairy farmers, the answer will be purchase more dairy products and then to look at the Milk Commission report and the research by Dr. Stephenson and Nicholson.  Consumers can choose for themselves if stabilizing the volume of milk, improving dairy farmers income and stabilizing[ST1]  the number of dairy farms in Vermont is a good investment.

To learn more, here are the links for additional reading and a petition to support a growth management plan nationally.

Milk Commission Webinar - On You Tube:  https://youtu.be/lcQ1Xg9QH0U

Also embedded on our website:  https://agriculture.vermont.gov/milk-commission

To watch a webinar on this Stephenson and Nicholson research go to:

https://dairymarkets.org/supmgt/     

Download the full printed on this research at: https://dairymarkets.org/PubPod/Podcast/Misc/SupplyManagement/DMAP%20Working%20Paper%2019-01.pdf

Here is a petition to support growth management - https://bit.ly/2VdTAyN