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.

F