A tough growing season for hay, rising costs of fuel, electricity and other animal feed have forced some Lincoln County farmers to either sell their herds or change business strategies.
Spear’s Farm in Nobleboro sold their dairy herd back in April. The Spear’s Farm dairy herd, likely the second largest dairy producer in Lincoln County, amounted to 125 head of Holstein cattle.
The five-generation farm has been in the dairy business since 1940, according to Robert Spear, farm co-owner and a former state Commissioner of Agriculture. The family started the produce end of their business in the early 1980s.
Realizing the dairy industry is not currently in the best position, Spear said the choice to sell the milk herd was the best business decision for the family business to make. Running dairy production is a lot of work, he said in April, and going forward, the family will focus primarily on growing vegetables.
Waldoboro dairy farmer Wayne Cunningham also recently sold his herd through a national herd retirement program. According to the program, Cooperatives Working Together (CWT), there is too much milk in the national supply, which is driving the price down.
Before his herd sold, Cunningham said he was having a tough time feeding his cows. The price of hay and grain has been high. Farmers also have been contending with declines in the price they get for their milk.
“There’s good and bad news to it,” he said of selling his herd.
By the end of the month, 87,000 cows will have been removed from the nation’s dairy market, according to the producer-funded national program developed by the National Milk Producer’s Federation. The program will have removed 1.8 billion pounds of milk from the national supply, according to the program website (www.cwt.coop).
The good part for Cunningham is he was able to get money for his herd. The bad news is he’s out of the business. The program states that the cows taken out of production will help to increase the chances for dairy producers’ return to profitability.
The program does not buy the cows, but pays each producer for a bid amount, equal to the price per hundredweight multiplied by the annual milk production, a period starting June 1, 2008 to May 31, 2009.
Farmers have to make arrangements to get their cows to slaughter 15 days after a CWT auditor visits their farm, once selected for the program.
“We’re still here,” Dyers Valley owner Larry Russell said, adding that he wasn’t sure for how much longer. “The handler’s fee has made all the difference in price.”
The handler’s fee, which funds the state operated Tier program, comes from the General Fund. Processors such as Hood and Oakhurst pay a handling fee that goes into the General Fund to support dairy farmers.
Russell said the Tier program has run out of money until January. State legislators are trying to figure out ways to bring money back into the program.
“The program was capped at a certain amount,” said Rep. Wendy Pieh (D- Bremen), who chairs the Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Commmittee.
She said the Tier funding budget will be used up next month and will be out until January.
The Dairy Industry Sustainability Task Force has recently re-convened to address the issue. It was first established in 2003 to ensure the sustainability of the Maine dairy industry.
“We’re looking at all kinds of solutions,” Pieh said, adding that future funding would likely not come from the state, but the task force will locate other sources of support for the industry.
Pieh joins Rep. John Nutting (D-Leeds) as a member on the task force, along with task force chair Stan Millay.
“It’s a very knowledgeable group,” Pieh said, adding that they have met two or three times so far.
The group consists of industry professionals, university professors, people from the Dept. of Agriculture, equipment dealers, as well as a large representation from large, medium and small farmers, in addition to members of the Maine Milk Commission.
The task force will meet on Wed., Sept. 16 to see what can be done in the short term and what industry professionals feel could be done for the future to sustain the dairy business in Maine.
“It’s a real problem, and we’re working on it,” Pieh said.
