[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 134 (Friday, November 19, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11632-S11633]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO BOB AND BETH KENNETT

 Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I would like to commend the work of 
Bob and Beth Kennett. The Kennett's own the Liberty Hill Farm in 
Rochester, VT, where Beth runs a bed and breakfast on the farm, and Bob 
oversees the dairy operation of 70 cows. The Kennett's demonstrate to 
their guests that dairy farming in Vermont is more than a job or an 
industry; it's a way of life. Vermont's landscape is defined by the 
green pastures and silos that dot the hills. Our agricultural economy 
depends on the hundreds of millions of dollars dairy farmers bring to 
the State every year. Through the Kennett's combination of agri-tourism 
and dairying they are helping to ensure farming is not only a part of 
Vermont's past, but a vital part of Vermont's future.
  I ask that a recent article about the Kennett's be printed in the 
Record.
  The article follows:

                    [From the Burlington Free Press]

                         Just Asking To Survive

                            (By Erin Kelly)

       Twenty-five years after they bought their small dairy farm 
     in Vermont's picturesque White River valley, Bob and Beth 
     Kennett find themselves alone.
       ``When we moved here, there were 11 farms shipping milk,'' 
     said Beth Kennett, who helps her husband run a farm of 70 
     milk cows in Rochester, VT. ``We are now the last dairy farm 
     in our valley.''
       Small dairy farms like the Kennetts' are disappearing 
     throughout America. In the last half-century, the percentage 
     of U.S. farms with milk cows has plunged from nearly 62 
     percent in 1954 to 4 percent in 2002, according to the 
     Department of Agriculture.
       Farmers say that number will keep dropping if a federal 
     dairy subsidy expires as scheduled in October 2005.
       At stake for the farmers is a way of life that in many 
     cases dates back generations. Suburbanites and urban dwellers 
     also have something to lose, farmers warn.
       If the farms go, their green pastures will be replaced with 
     shopping malls and housing tracts. Fresh milk produced 
     locally could be replaced by milk shipped by tanker truck 
     thousands of miles from mega-dairy farms in the West.
       ``The consumer is not going to benefit if all the milk is 
     produced in just a few places,'' Beth Kennett said. ``Why not 
     have local milk for local markets?''
       Small dairy farmers won a victory last month when the 
     Senate Appropriations Committee approved a plan to extend the 
     federal dairy subsidy to at least 2007, when it could 
     be renewed again as part of a new farm bill. The plan, 
     pushed by Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.; Herb Kohl, D-Wis.; 
     and Arlen Specter, R-Pa., still must be approved by the 
     full Congress.
       An effort to attach the subsidy to a Homeland Security bill 
     failed this past weekend, but lawmakers vowed to try again 
     this year.
       The subsidy, which has cost taxpayers about $2 billion 
     since its passage in 2002, sends payments to dairy farmers 
     whenever the price of milk drops below a certain level, 
     basically guaranteeing farmers a minimum price. Small 
     farmers, those with about 130 cows or fewer, benefit most.
       While some are pushing for the short-term extension of a 
     tax subsidy for dairy farmers, other dairy state lawmakers 
     want a different, long-term solution one that could raise the 
     price of a gallon of milk for consumers.
       Instead of a taxpayer subsidy, the National Dairy Equity 
     Act would require milk processors to pay farmers a minimum 
     price for their milk.
       If the proposal becomes law, consumers could pay as much as 
     20 cents more per gallon of whole milk, warns the 
     International Dairy Foods Association, which represents

[[Page S11633]]

     processors. Sen. Jim Jeffords, I-Vt., says the group is 
     grossly exaggerating the cost as a scare tactic.
       Ken Bailey, associate professor of dairy markets at 
     Pennsylvania State University, said even an increase of a few 
     cents could hurt sales of milk, which has dropped in 
     popularity. The percentage of raw milk being turned into milk 
     to drink declined from 40 percent in 1980 to 28 percent in 
     2000, with the rest used to make cheese or other dairy 
     products.
       When the retail price of milk went up in May and June, 
     sales fell 3 percent, Bailey said.
       ``It doesn't make sense to design a whole federal policy 
     around a small and declining segment of the dairy market,'' 
     Bailey said. ``What the federal government should be doing is 
     getting out the way and encouraging innovation and the 
     creation of new dairy products. In Europe, liquid yogurt 
     beverages are very popular. Our thinking is still stuck back 
     in the 1950s when everybody had a glass of milk with 
     dinner.''
       Carl Greene, a sixth generation dairy farmer in Berlin, 
     N.Y., said that with a little help from Washington, he is 
     optimistic that the farm he works with his brother and father 
     will survive for a long time to come.
       ``Any help we get will make us more competitive,'' he said. 
     ``We'll reinvest it back into the farm.''
       Beth Kennett, who runs a bed and breakfast out of her 
     Rochester farmhouse to help make ends meet, said the city 
     folks who visit seem willing to help once they see what's at 
     stake. People need to realize that retail milk prices which 
     have stayed fairly steady at $2.62 to $2.76 a gallon over the 
     last eight years are a bargain and don't reflect the farmers' 
     true cost, Kennett said.
       ``Our guests, once they see the hard work that goes into 
     it, say they'd be more than happy to pay an extra nickel for 
     milk to keep Farmer Bob going,'' Kennett said. ``We're not 
     asking to make huge profits. We're just asking to 
     survive.''

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