Last week, Vermont lawmakers and Gov. Jim Douglas reached an agreement on legislation that would provide $3 million in emergency aid to dairy farmers in the state after more than a month of quarreling over the funding source for the measure.

Now, a group of New Hampshire legislators, including Sullivan County state representatives Jay Phinizy, D-Acworth, and Carla Skinder, D-Cornish, are working to provide a financial safety net for dairy farmers in the Granite State.

If successful, Phinizy said the effort would mark the first time New Hampshire has offered direct monetary support to its dairy farmers.

"We've been talking about this for years and, frankly, I'm tired of talking about it," Phinizy said Saturday. Phinizy chairs the House Environment and Agriculture Committee. "I want to do something, it's time to do something."

He and Skinder both have signed on to a bill that would create a $3 million Emergency Milk Relief Fund using a 2.5-cent per gallon tax on milk distributors. The money then would be distributed to farmers when the wholesale price of milk falls below $12 per hundredweight.

"We're talking about getting a really good floor, a good base of support for the dairy farmer," Phinizy said.

The proposal is just one of three milk bills that will go before the Environment and Agriculture Committee this week. Another price support bill backed by Rep. Timothy O'Connell, R-Milford, and Sen. John Gallus, R-Berlin, also would use a distribution tax to create a $3 million Dairy Stabilization Fund that would kick in when milk falls to $14 per hundredweight.

Source: Eagle Times