Augusta quickly passes dairy relief bill

AUGUSTA – A bill to provide $725,000 in emergency aid to Maine’s beleaguered dairy farmers passed with unusual speed and without dissension Thursday and was signed by Gov. John Baldacci.

“This is very important. It’s going to give some immediate relief,” said Baldacci, whose action wrapped up State House events to recognize Maine’s agriculture industry. “We all realize we have more work to do.”

The bill, which was submitted by Baldacci, was returned to his desk for his signature shortly after it passed by a 131-0 final House vote and 31-0 Senate tally.

Dairy farmers say their industry is teetering on the brink of collapse in Maine if nothing is done to help them. The demise of a federal price-support program helped to send milk prices plummeting to a 20-year low.

Emergency legislation enacted Thursday will provide payments by mid-April to farmers, based on their February milk shipments. The Agriculture Department says a farmer with 100 cows would get $2,100 in emergency aid. Maine has 412 dairy farms.

The money going to dairy farmers comes from existing state agriculture accounts, so no new funds will have to be raised.

The final votes were cast on Agriculture Day at the State House, where farmers offered samples of their products to lawmakers and other visitors, who nibbled on locally produced cheese, sipped blueberry juice, and feasted on fudge and strawberry shortcake as they visited exhibits in the Hall of Flags.

A day earlier, dozens of dairy farmers were also on the Capitol grounds to make a case before the Taxation Committee for a separate bill to help bail out their industry by reinstituting a 32-cent-per-gallon tax on all milk handled for retail sale in the state. Money raised by the tax would go to farmers.

The bill remained in committee Thursday. Baldacci has taken no official position on the measure, but has made clear his opposition to new taxes.

The administration views the legislation Baldacci signed Thursday as an interim measure. Agriculture Commissioner Robert Spear has outlined a four-point plan to provide longer-term relief for dairy farmers.

It includes efforts to establish minimum milk prices across New England and to defer outstanding loans owed by dairy farmers. Another goal is to drive down electricity costs by having dairies negotiate group power contracts.

The final proposal seeks a federal grant to help dairy farmers diversify and find new markets, develop business plans and achieve value-added production.