Bay State dairy farmers are calling for an emergency hearing with state officials to allow them to boost the cost of milk. They say without the increase, the already endangered dairy farming industry may soon become extinct.

The state's Department of Agriculture sets the price farmers can charge for milk to keep it affordable for consumers. That price is now $1.11 per gallon — just 2 cents higher than the price was in 1996. Meanwhile, farmers' costs such as property taxes, fuel and just about everything else are skyrocketing, they say.

While farmers can't charge more than $1.11 per gallon, grocery stores can charge whatever they want. The average cost of a gallon of milk today is $3.69, said Douglas DiMento, spokesman for Methuen-based Agri-Mark, the largest dairy farmer cooperative serving New England.

DiMento says the farmers only want fair market price and that is why his company is petitioning for higher wholesale milk rates.

"The farmers need more money," DiMento said. "We're seeing a tremendous loss of dairy farmers."

Since 1982, Massachusetts has lost 625 dairy farms. There are now 187 in the state and only a handful remain in Essex County. Locally, a dairy farm in Newbury, Sunshine Farm, went out of business Monday, according to Agri-Mark. That farmer declined to comment.

Source: Batesville Herald Tribune