[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 79 (Thursday, May 21, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H5896]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         VERMONT DAIRY FARMERS

  (Mr. WELCH asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WELCH. I rise today to bring to the attention of my colleagues 
the ever-worsening plight of dairy farmers in Vermont. Frankly, dairy 
farmers around the country.
  The life of a dairy farmer is hard always. Never easy. Long hours, 
uncertainty in the markets, competition from factory and farms make it 
tough for family farmers in Vermont and elsewhere to survive and 
thrive. It's even tougher these days.
  With the cost of production of milk at about $18 per hundredweight, 
it's well below the $11 per hundredweight that farmers are being paid. 
It's no wonder that so many farmers are having to sell their herds and 
walk off the land they love.
  But dairy is so important to Vermont--economically, culturally, 
environmentally, and historically. We need to do all we can to help 
this sector and to help our farmers.
  That's why I and 23 of our colleagues are calling on Secretary 
Vilsack to consider the cost of production when setting milk prices. We 
need to act now to resolve this crisis. Even more importantly, we need 
to find a long-term solution that will help create stable and 
sustainable dairy in this country.

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