The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“TRIBUTE TO BOB AND BETH KENNETT” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Agriculture was published in the Senate section on pages S11632-S11633 on Nov. 19, 2004.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
TRIBUTE TO BOB AND BETH KENNETT
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I would like to commend the work of Bob and Beth Kennett. The Kennett's own the Liberty Hill Farm in Rochester, VT, where Beth runs a bed and breakfast on the farm, and Bob oversees the dairy operation of 70 cows. The Kennett's demonstrate to their guests that dairy farming in Vermont is more than a job or an industry; it's a way of life. Vermont's landscape is defined by the green pastures and silos that dot the hills. Our agricultural economy depends on the hundreds of millions of dollars dairy farmers bring to the State every year. Through the Kennett's combination of agri-tourism and dairying they are helping to ensure farming is not only a part of Vermont's past, but a vital part of Vermont's future.
I ask that a recent article about the Kennett's be printed in the Record.
The article follows:
Just Asking To Survive
(By Erin Kelly)
Twenty-five years after they bought their small dairy farm in Vermont's picturesque White River valley, Bob and Beth Kennett find themselves alone.
``When we moved here, there were 11 farms shipping milk,'' said Beth Kennett, who helps her husband run a farm of 70 milk cows in Rochester, VT. ``We are now the last dairy farm in our valley.''
Small dairy farms like the Kennetts' are disappearing throughout America. In the last half-century, the percentage of U.S. farms with milk cows has plunged from nearly 62 percent in 1954 to 4 percent in 2002, according to the Department of Agriculture.
Farmers say that number will keep dropping if a federal dairy subsidy expires as scheduled in October 2005.
At stake for the farmers is a way of life that in many cases dates back generations. Suburbanites and urban dwellers also have something to lose, farmers warn.
If the farms go, their green pastures will be replaced with shopping malls and housing tracts. Fresh milk produced locally could be replaced by milk shipped by tanker truck thousands of miles from mega-dairy farms in the West.
``The consumer is not going to benefit if all the milk is produced in just a few places,'' Beth Kennett said. ``Why not have local milk for local markets?''
Small dairy farmers won a victory last month when the Senate Appropriations Committee approved a plan to extend the federal dairy subsidy to at least 2007, when it could be renewed again as part of a new farm bill. The plan, pushed by Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.; Herb Kohl, D-Wis.; and Arlen Specter, R-Pa., still must be approved by the full Congress.
An effort to attach the subsidy to a Homeland Security bill failed this past weekend, but lawmakers vowed to try again this year.
The subsidy, which has cost taxpayers about $2 billion since its passage in 2002, sends payments to dairy farmers whenever the price of milk drops below a certain level, basically guaranteeing farmers a minimum price. Small farmers, those with about 130 cows or fewer, benefit most.
While some are pushing for the short-term extension of a tax subsidy for dairy farmers, other dairy state lawmakers want a different, long-term solution one that could raise the price of a gallon of milk for consumers.
Instead of a taxpayer subsidy, the National Dairy Equity Act would require milk processors to pay farmers a minimum price for their milk.
If the proposal becomes law, consumers could pay as much as 20 cents more per gallon of whole milk, warns the International Dairy Foods Association, which represents processors. Sen. Jim Jeffords, I-Vt., says the group is grossly exaggerating the cost as a scare tactic.
Ken Bailey, associate professor of dairy markets at Pennsylvania State University, said even an increase of a few cents could hurt sales of milk, which has dropped in popularity. The percentage of raw milk being turned into milk to drink declined from 40 percent in 1980 to 28 percent in 2000, with the rest used to make cheese or other dairy products.
When the retail price of milk went up in May and June, sales fell 3 percent, Bailey said.
``It doesn't make sense to design a whole federal policy around a small and declining segment of the dairy market,'' Bailey said. ``What the federal government should be doing is getting out the way and encouraging innovation and the creation of new dairy products. In Europe, liquid yogurt beverages are very popular. Our thinking is still stuck back in the 1950s when everybody had a glass of milk with dinner.''
Carl Greene, a sixth generation dairy farmer in Berlin, N.Y., said that with a little help from Washington, he is optimistic that the farm he works with his brother and father will survive for a long time to come.
``Any help we get will make us more competitive,'' he said.
``We'll reinvest it back into the farm.''
Beth Kennett, who runs a bed and breakfast out of her Rochester farmhouse to help make ends meet, said the city folks who visit seem willing to help once they see what's at stake. People need to realize that retail milk prices which have stayed fairly steady at $2.62 to $2.76 a gallon over the last eight years are a bargain and don't reflect the farmers' true cost, Kennett said.
``Our guests, once they see the hard work that goes into it, say they'd be more than happy to pay an extra nickel for milk to keep Farmer Bob going,'' Kennett said. ``We're not asking to make huge profits. We're just asking to survive.''
____________________
