AUGUSTA – Maine’s dairy farmers headed to Augusta on Wednesday with their hats in their hands, doing something both unique and uncomfortable: They begged.

Because of a failed federal dairy policy, Maine lost two dairy farms a month last year and could lose another 130 this year unless assistance is provided.

Farmers, feed dealers, equipment salesmen, dairy operators, sportsmen and recreationists – more than 200 in all – pressed the Legislature’s Agriculture Committee to pass a $5.5 million subsidy package that they said could bail the dairy industry out.

Without help, legislators were told, Maine could not only lose farms, but open space, hunting and fishing spots and land used now for recreation.

“Las Vegas is a church bingo compared to gambling as a Maine dairy farmer,” said dairyman Adrian Wadsworth. “The governor and the Legislature have the power to save Maine’s farms. This is the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.”

LD 338, with 37 sponsors, would provide subsidy payments equal to half the difference between what it costs Maine farmers to produce milk – $17 per hundredweight – and what the federal order price is. The base price paid to farmers in January was $12.19. If the legislation were in effect, it would have provided a payment of about $2.81 per hundredweight.

“The bill does the one thing that can have significant impact – it puts money in the milk check,” said Dale Cole, president of the Maine Dairy Industry Association.

Prices have been crashing for the past 15 months to a point where farmers are getting 1978 prices for milk. Collectively they lost $20 million last year.

Robert Wellington, a regional dairy expert with the farmer cooperative Agri-Mark, told the committee the crisis is being driven by producers in the West who are overproducing milk.

“In one month, the four states of California, Idaho, Arizona and New Mexico produced 226 million pounds of milk,” said Wellington. “In 10 days in California, as much milk is produced as in one year in Maine.”

“You can’t look to the federal government, the region or the marketplace for solutions,” said Wellington. “This bill is the only answer.”

Former state legislator Richard Spencer urged the committee to act. “We did this in the 1990s and we know it works. You are in a unique position – to have an industry on the edge and have a known solution,” he said.

As powerful as the farmers’ testimony was the testimony from those who supply the dairy industry and who will be heavily affected by the loss of farms: lenders, equipment dealers, grain suppliers, veterinarians and processors.

In an unusual alliance, representatives of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine and the Maine Audubon Society joined forces in favor of the bill, speaking on behalf of open space and wildlife habitat. Other groups testifying in favor of the bill were the United Coop of Farmers, the Maine Snowmobile Association, the Maine Farm Bureau, Blue Seal Feeds, Agway, Oakhurst Dairy Inc., State of Maine Cheese Company, and Hammond Tractor Co.

As an indicator of how stressed Maine’s farmers are, David Wadsworth of Agway said that his accounts receivable are four times greater this year than last year. “Timing is critical,” said Wadsworth.

One of the most compelling speakers was Cheryl Carson of Knox, whose dairy farm supports nine families. Carson talked about the importance of bolstering an industry that is family-oriented, but added the fear of food security.

“If we go to war, we’re not going to need fancy imports or recreational vehicles,” she said. “But we will need food.”

A companion bill to fund the proposal will be heard next week before the Legislature’s Taxation Committee. No date has been set for a work session on LD 338.