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Article: State's dairy farms need federal help
- Article from:
- Concord Monitor
- Article date:
- July 9, 2009
CopyrightCopyright 2009 Concord Monitor. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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New Hampshire's dairy industry, once 2,600 farms strong, is
drying up. The state now has just 130 dairy farms, and they are
losing money on every gallon of milk they produce.
Farmers have cut their expenses to the quick, but they're still
using up equity accrued in some cases for generations to stay in
business. Unless change comes quickly to the dysfunctional milk
pricing system, some farms will go under soon and most, eventually.
No one can stay in business long when it costs $16 to make something
that sells for $11.
The problem is national, and it can only be solved at the federal
level. Preserving the nation's dairy farms is critical. And by
"farms" we mean operations with 100 or 1,000 ...