A Vermont legislative task force working on the state’s dairy industry finished the year by making a list of suggestions that the General Assembly will take up in 2023.
The Task Force to Revitalize the Vermont Dairy Industry came up with a list of suggestions, which will be sent as a report to the state Senate Agriculture Committee in January. From there, the suggestions could go to other parts of the state government.
The recommendations come at a time when Vermont’s dairy industry is struggling because of pressures from the outside. This year, the cost of fertiliser went through the roof because of inflation and the war in Ukraine, which made the situation worse.
Even though the final numbers aren’t in yet, dozens of dairy farms in Vermont have shut down in 2022. At the first meeting of the task force, which took place at the end of August, the number was set at 22.
The Vermont Milk Commission, which is part of the state’s Department of Agriculture, is at the centre of many of the proposed changes.
The task force has suggested a number of changes that would give the commission more freedom to change Vermont’s pricing systems in a way that would be fair to both dairy farmers and consumers.
Michael O’Grady, deputy chief counsel with the Vermont Office of Legislative Counsel, talked about the state’s minimum producer price regulation while the proposed changes were being talked about.
O’Grady said that the language in the list of recommendations is up to the commission. “The rules for setting the price are being changed. It’s not just about making dairy products; it’s also about processing and making them.
The Vermont Milk Commission has been a part of state government for a long time, but there are efforts to give it more tools to help it deal with pressures on the state’s dairy industry.
For example, the commission could be able to hire people to deal with a variety of issues as they come up. This was one of the ideas brought up at the recent meeting, which raised questions about how the task could be overseen.
“You can choose,” O’Grady said. “At the moment, the agency is allowed to use its own staff. If they want to hire someone from outside, they can. Money can be set aside for that by the General Assembly.”
Even though the work of the task force is done, state Sen. Robert Starr, who is also co-chair, said that the process of making changes to help the struggling dairy industry in the state has just been formalised.
Starr, D-Essex, said, “I think it’s very important to remember that what we’re doing is proposed legislation that we would be passing.” “Once the Ag Committee goes over this, the meetings, hearings, and getting people in will start all over again.”
Starr said this about what would happen next: “We’ll be taking testimony. I think we’ve done a pretty good job with this from a legal standpoint.”
