WASHINGTON – With hopes for a Northeast Dairy Compact fading, Sen. Charles Schumer on Wednesday threw his support behind a national milk compact proposal being pushed by Vermont lawmakers.

The new plan – called a national dairy trust – has some support in the Midwest, the Northeast’s longtime rival in the battle over the price-setting compact.

“If we could get the Northeast Dairy Compact, I’d be for that, but if we can’t get the Northeast Dairy Compact, this is a very, very good, viable alternative,” Schumer said Wednesday.

The compact would work by establishing a minimum price for milk in every region of the country, as the Northeast compact did for New England.