Congress is in the process of reauthorizing the national Farm Bill and the farmers, banded together in a loose coalition named "Dairy Farmers Working Together," met Tuesday with two members of the delegation and a representative of the third in hopes of finding a way to make that happen.

"We're making milk, and we have been for a year, at a loss," said Bridport Dairy farmer Marie Audet, who spoke at the meeting at the Sheraton Hotel and Conference Center in South Burlington. "We are at a loss to cut more expenses."

Hundreds of farmers, feed suppliers and others who depend on the dairy industry for their livelihoods attended the meeting with Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, Democratic U.S. Rep. Peter Welch and a representative of Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy.

Sanders, Welch and Leahy's representative promised to do all they could to help.

"We want to hear from you. We can't do our job unless we know what you want," Sanders said.

The farmers and the politicians agreed to keep in touch via e-mail and hold regular conference calls to seek the solutions.

The amount Vermont farmers are paid for their milk is based on a national pricing system that many of the farmers at Tuesday's meeting said did not take into account the special circumstance of farmers in Vermont and the Northeast. Unlike some other commodities, fluid milk has a short shelf life, which means it needs to be produced close to the markets where it's consumed, and Northeast farmers cannot run the massive operations run elsewhere.

"We're not at the point of academic discussions, we're at the point of survival," Welch said.

More than one farmer suggested the new farm bill should modify the pricing system to take those realities into account.

"We've got to take a look at the federal pricing system, because it does not work," Audet said.

Source: Times Argus