Wanderings from a farmers wife....World Dairy Expo

Last week DFWT joined with a group of stakeholders from around the country in a dairy briefing of the Dairy Price Stabilization Program in Washington DC. Senior Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont hosted the event. The group of farmers answered questions from the staff and explained the motivation behind the creation of the DPSP.

Fast forward a short week later, and I find myself at the World Dairy Expo in Madison Wisconsin. We decided to take the discussion to the heart of the dairy world. We are pleased that we took time off our dairy farms to do so. Make no mistake if you stop by booth 185 in the Arena Level (please do so-we would love to meet with you), the ladies in the booth are the real deal. Farmers in every sense of the word. We milk or own cows, treat our own cows, raise our own young stock and manage our genetics. We are a core part of our family farms and we traveled to Madison and to Washington to discuss where dairy policy is today and what changes we can make "together" to improve the state we are in.

In those conversations it appears their may be some some rocks and bumps in the road along the way in creating a policy we can all live with. However growing up in Vermont we were taught to put it in 4wd , dig in and keep moving!!!!!!! No longer are there obstacles that we cannot overcome. We are not finding those bumps or rocks too steep or too difficult to get through! Too often in the past we have heard farmers cannot agree. Perhaps that was a convenient excuse to avoid working on issues that the dairy industry needed to work on. DFWT is committed to doing that work. We find as we meet great farmers from around the country that they are equally committed. We will leave this Dairy Expo with a lot of great information and many new found friends!! Together we make the difference. Stay tuned to see where I will wander next....