Guest Blog Post by: New England Farmers Union Member, Britt Lundgren, Stonyfield’s Director of Organic and Sustainable Agriculture This year has been devastating for many dairy farmers in the Northeast. Low prices for conventional milk and a severe drought have delivered a one-two punch that many dairies have been unable to withstand, with 16% of … Read More
Dairy
Understanding the Challenges of a Slumping Farm Economy and its Impact on Connecticut
Guest Blog Post: By Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-2) Agriculture in the Northeast contributes $103 billion to local economies and supports roughly 480,000 jobs across the region. But like the rest of the farm economy, producers in Connecticut have been negatively impacted by slumping commodity prices and weak demand for their products. Nationally, net farm income … Read More
A Tour of Organic Valley Member Farm Haynes Dairy
GUEST BLOG POST By Bonnie Hudspeth, Neighboring Food Co-op Association Dairy farmer John Haynes, one of eight siblings, is the only sibling who stayed on the farm with his father. John claims that he has spent “half of his lifetime” clearing their pasture because his father was so committed to pasture grazing. John hasn’t plowed his … Read More
New England Fly-In Group’s Got Dairy Covered
Five New England Farmers Union members attended the 2015 National Farmers Union Legislative Fly-In last week, and three of the attendees are dairy farmers. Mary Castonguay milks Ayrshires in Maine; Allie Bates works on her family’s dairy farm and makes goat cheese, also in Maine. Both Castonguay and Bates are members of the Organic Valley … Read More
Congratulations to Farmers Union Scholarship Winner Ellie Pendleton
New England Farmers Union Education Foundation is proud to announce its inaugural scholarship winner for 2015, Ellie Pendleton of Rockport, Maine. Ellie, a New England Farmers Union member, will be a sophomore at the University of Maine, and is pursuing a double major in animal science and education. As a freshman, she worked on the … Read More
New Dairy Training Program Brings in Beginning Farmers
Conventional dairy is in decline and the average age of dairy farmers in Maine is approaching 60. Too few young people are entering organic dairy. Meanwhile, the demand for organic milk is increasing at a dramatic rate, creating a nationwide shortage of organic milk. To address these challenges, Wolfe’s Neck Farm, an educational nonprofit farm … Read More
Dairy Farmer Chelsea Kruse on Finding Farming
Chelsea Kruse delivered this talk at the National Farmers Union convention in Wichita, Kansas, in March. My name is Chelsea Kruse, I’m a member of New England Farmers Union and a student of the 2014 Beginning Farmers Institute. I grew up in a very rural and unknown corner of New Hampshire, but I have no … Read More