Dairy farmers, especially New England’s small operations, have soured on a federal bill that had been aimed at helping stabilize their prices and spur growth.
The proposal by Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., would change existing dairy pricing regulations and do away with a safety-net program that most farmers agree has worked well, the Milk Income Loss Contract program. But it also includes provisions which they say would open the barn door for much larger farms to make a killing and would leave small farms, like those in Franklin County, high and dry.
Among those that oppose the legislation proposed by Peterson, the ranking member of the House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture, is Shelburne Falls-based New England Farmers Union and its parent, the National Farmers Union, which approved a resolution last month opposing a change in the pricing rules.