SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. – With milk prices plummeting and no dairy compact in place to shield farmers from the fall, Vermont dairy farmers Monday urged Congress to adopt legislation that would protect them from fluctuating milk prices.

At a rally at the University of Vermont horse barn, dairy leaders and farmers signed a petition asking Congress to include legislation in the federal Farm Bill that will protect farmers when prices paid to them fall.

Milk prices farmers receive dropped this month by nearly $4 per 100 pounds – about 20 percent – while store prices have remained the same.

Without the Northeast Interstate Dairy Compact, which paid New England farmers a subsidy when prices fell below a certain level, dairy officials said Vermont’s farmers face a “roller-coaster ride” as prices rise and fall.

Since the dairy compact expired in September, Vermont’s congressional delegation has tried to rally support for alternative measures to protect regional farmers from volatile milk prices. But efforts to renew the compact or to establish a national compact by increasing the minimum price processors pay for milk had not won enough support in Congress, the delegation said.

A temporary price support system being worked out in the Senate may help farmers until a more permanent solution is found, the delegation said.

The provision would provide dairy farmers with nearly the same amount of support they received under the dairy compact, the delegation said.

If passed, farmers would receive subsidies from the federal government when milk prices fall below a certain level. The three-year program would cost $2 billion and be paid for by tax revenues.

Under the dairy compact, processors paid the difference to farmers when milk prices fell. Rep. Sanders said he would prefer not to rely on federal funds. “It is not all that we want or what you want,” Sanders said. “But it is an important step forward for dairy farmers in the state.”

He said the temporary program would include six other states and allow the delegation more time to work with Midwestern lawmakers to pass a permanent program to help dairy farmers.

New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and West Virginia will join the six New England states that had been supported by the compact.

“As things stand now we will be able to expand the compact to six other states,” Sanders said.

Addison dairy farmers Mike and Barbara Eastman came to the rally with their two young sons to show their support.

They said they agreed with the temporary measure.

“We didn’t quite understand why Midwesterners opposed the compact so much,” said Barbara Eastman. “So if this helps them, too, that’s great. If it’s more taxpayer-funded, it could be perceived as more equitable,” she said.