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....

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Dairy Farmers have a great opportunity on Saturday, September 19, 2009 at 10:00 AM. Senator Leahy of Vermont will hold a judiciary hearing to take testimony on the "Crisis on the Farm, State of Competition and Prospects For Sustainability in the Northeast Dairy Industry" This is an opportunity for farmers and stakeholders of our industry to provide written testimony and to listen to the panel of witness compiled for this hearing. If you have information to provide it is imperative that you take the time to do it. This is our industry and if we want it to improve than we need to take a stand and make it better. We have a chance to make a difference, we have a voice, let's use it. the Vermont team of Congressman Welch, Senator Sanders and Senator Leahy, we applaud you for your support in investigating this issue. This has been one of our gravest concerns for our industry. Again, we encourage everyone from the Northeast to attend, if you need help with directions, please call. 802-848-7446. Dairy Farmers Working Together

Why do you suport the Dairy Price Stabilization Program?

Why do you support the Dairy Price Stabilization Program? If you haven't heard of it or had a chance to see a copy please go to www.dfwt.org or email me at dfwt06@yahoo.com. The time is now to get involved with a national idea to provide stability to our dairy industry. We as dairy farmers need to agree on something soon, let us come together to help ourselves out of this crisis. Danielle Goodrich is a young Vermont Dairy Farmer who is full of promise for our state and we want to keep her in the industry. This program has the potential to do just that. Dairy Farmers Working Together presented this program with Holstein USA, Gary Genske, and Milk Producers Council at the National Milk Producers Strategic Milk Meeting in August. We continue to outreach around the country and in Washington to promote this program and the concept of stability for our industry. Please work with us towards this goal. We cannot afford to lose young farms like Danielle every time this cycle hits.

National Conference Call is tomorrow...

Please join us for our National Dairy Conference. Log on to www.dfwt.org for more information and the teleconference phone number. We can promote positive changes with long term effects such as the Dairy Price Stabilization Program. We can take ideas to enhance short term solutions and we can manage our industry. What we need to do is organize our efforts and lead our industry out of this crisis and into a new direction. How can we continue make our product, sell it for less than it costs to make it and yet we have 1 billion people going to bed hungry every night? Questions continue, but our direction is very clear. Do something! Doing nothing is an action unto itself. Too many of us are accepting the status quo, which can only lead to more farms selling out never to return. Vermont's landscape will be hit hard. Should we hold on for perfection? What on our dairies is perfect. We take used equipment and modify it until it works especially in these hard times. Do we wait unti we can purchase the top of the line brand new expensive model with all the bell and whistles? We have a program that can work, we have the ability to develop the details as it goes forward, what we don't have is the luxury to wait for that perfect plan that covers every wrong which exists in this complex industry.

Strength in Numbers Campaign

We are excited to announce the "Strength in Numbers Campaign". Dairy farmers and supporters are encouraged to join us on June 30, 2009 at 4PM Eastern Time for a National Dairy Conference Call. The 30th of June marks the last day of National Dairy Month. How fitting to show the industry that we are committed to keeping dairy farms in our country by joining together and effecting change. The magnitude of this call could be huge!! Please call 1-800-217-7379 to rsvp for this call. On June 30 at 4 PM Eastern you will be called at that number to join in. Participation is key to a healthy and viable dairy industry. It is so easy to make your voice count, pick up the phone and dial!
Remember there is strength in numbers!

The sun is out today in Vermont, so we will remain upbeat and optomistic. We are continuing to work to build connections with everyone in our industry..that is all we can do. Work to develop solutions to our problems and remain committed to see them through. We make decisions on our farms every day, and we understand what hard work is about. When we are faced with challenges we just move forward and work that much harder. We will continue to do the same despite the adversity we are facing in this crisis....Together we are strong!

Thank you to Food Wolfe for writing about the crisis we are facing and encouraging consumers to get involved...what is at stake? Safe and reliable food, from our neighbor hood farms to your tables, and economic recovery for our nation. Please work with us for a change. President Obama has asked us as a nation to get involved and to participate in the change...