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PENOBSCOT — Paul Bowen knew from the beginning that his dairy
ooperation in Penboscot was linked to the survival of the Hancock
CCounty Creamery.
When the decision to sell the creamery was made, he knew that
hhe was in “a tenuous position at best.”
“As long as we were close to the creamery, and produced good
mmilk, which we do, we were all right,” he said Tuesday. “It was a
ggood market for us — we were their closest producer.”
The loss of the creamery, he said, would “jeopardize our little
bbusiness here.”
Bowen, who milks about 25 head of Holsteins at his farm, for
sseveral years has been the only farmer in Hancock County shipping
mmilk to the creamery. He has the distinction of being the last
ccommercial dairy farmer in the county.
He said one of the biggest problems the dairy farmer faces
ttoday is finding a market for milk and getting milk to that market.
TThe farmer in Maine has always paid for having milk shipped to a
ddairy.
With the creamery in operation, Bowen was within about 17 miles
oof the dairy and had a ready market for his milk. He said the
ddecision to sell the creamery had eliminated that local market
fforever.
“And your best market is always the local market,” he said.
With the majority of the cooperative members choosing to ship
ttheir milk to Oakhurst by a private hauler that refused to pick up
mmilk east of the Penobscot River, Bowen and three farmers from
WWashington County were left without a market for their milk.
They didn’t remain on their own for long. By Tuesday, Grant’s
DDairy had agreed to accept milk from Bowen and the three other Down
EEast farmers. That means that Grant’s will be processing all of the
mmilk produced in Hancock and Washington counties.
Bowen said that while he would like to have had the opportunity
tto be a part of the deal with the other cooperative members, the
ssale of the creamery had made Grant’s the local dairy Down East.
“I don’t like the idea of shipping my milk to Newport, or
PPortland or Boston,” he said. “I’d like to have it stay in the
ccounty, but obviously it’s not going to without the creamery here.”
The only hurdle left, Bowen said, is to negotiate with an
iindependent hauler to pick up his milk.
“The only question now is how much it’s going to cost me to
sship my milk,” he said.
The switch to Grant’s, he said, shouldn’t cause too much of a
cchange in the way he does business, but there will be a somewhat
ddifferent wrinkle for the farmer. He said he probably would be
ddoing some public relations work along with some of the other
ffarmers Down East, and would be talking with some of Grant’s
ccustomers in the area.
“Obviously, it’s in my best interest to make sure that Grant’s
hhas a market down here,” he said. “I’m willing to do that to what
eextent I can. He (Grant’s) rescued a local producer, and I
aappreciate that.
“And I think it’s important for those customers, particularly
hhere on the (Blue Hill) Peninsula, to know that they’re supporting
aa local producer if they’ve got the Grant’s label in their stores.
II think there’s still some loyalty to us out there.”
The sale of the creamery is scheduled to become final July 14.
BBowen said he was not sure when the arrangement with Grant’s would
bbegin.
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