[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 137 (Monday, September 17, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S11575]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO HOWRIGAN FARM

 Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I am pleased to take this 
opportunity to commend longtime friends, Harold and Anne Howrigan and 
their sons of Fairfield, VT, whose farm was recently named 2007 Vermont 
Dairy Farm of the Year.
  Harold, his wife Anne and their sons operate two farms comprised of 
more than 500 head of holstein cattle and some 1,800 acres of cropland 
and forest, including a significant maple sugaring operation. The 
Howrigan farm was selected by University of Vermont Extension and the 
Vermont Dairy Industry Association, who described it as an excellent, 
well managed dairy operation which consistently produces high-quality 
milk. With some of the farm acreage in the family since the mid 19th 
Century, the Howrigan family indeed exemplifies a long-term commitment 
to agriculture.
  As much as he loves the home farm, over the years Harold has spent 
considerable time away from the farm serving Vermont agriculture. He 
has served as president of the Green Mountain Dairy Farmers Federation 
of Cooperatives and as a director with both the Vermont Maple Sugar 
Makers Association and the Vermont Dairy Promotion Council. Harold has 
served on the St. Albans Cooperative board of directors since 1981 and 
as president from 1988 until stepping down in 2005.
  At one time or another, Harold was chairperson of the Vermont 
Northeast Interstate Dairy Compact Commission, chair of the Council of 
Northeast Farmer Cooperatives and chair of the National Dairy Promotion 
and Research Board. He also served on the U.S. Dairy Export Council and 
the National Milk Producers Federation.
  With this level of engagement in the interest of dairy farmers and 
their industry, it is a tribute to Harold, Anne and their sons to earn 
this distinguished award. I join my fellow Vermonters in recognizing a 
Vermont dairy farm--and family--with its tradition of hard work, common 
sense and love of agriculture as the 2007 Vermont Dairy Farm of the 
Year.

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