Issue Position: Working to Protect Vermont's Agricultural Traditions

Issue Position

Vermont farmers have a friend and advocate in Senator Leahy. He has fought hard to help struggling dairy farmers while encouraging the expansion of organic farming in Vermont and across the nation.

Helping Vermont's Dairy Industry. Throughout the ongoing crisis in milk prices, Senator Leahy has worked with the Vermont delegation and the Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, to help farmers get a fair price for their milk. He met with Secretary Vilsack and convinced him to raise the floor on milk prices laid out in the Dairy Price Support Program. In the 2008 Farm Bill, he fought for changes in the Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) Program to adjust the payment rate based on feed costs, expand the size of herds eligible for MILC payments, and add individualized price support measures for milk, butter, cheese and other dairy products. He helped appropriate $290 million in payments to dairy farmers in the 2010 Agriculture appropriations bill, including $60 million to purchase cheese and other dairy products for food banks nationwide.

In 2009, Senator Leahy chaired a Judiciary Committee field hearing in St. Albans to discuss the dairy crisis--specifically antitrust and competition issues in the dairy industry. In addition to Obama Administration agriculture and antitrust officials, the Committee heard directly from three Vermont dairy farmers about their struggles as corporate profits make up an increasing percentage of milk sales.

For far too long, Vermont dairy farms have often been forced to rely on undocumented workers to meet their labor needs. Crop farms in need of seasonal workers are eligible to legally hire foreign workers under the H2-A seasonal agricultural visa program, while dairy farms, who need year round workers, are not eligible. Senator Leahy continues to fight to pass AgJobs legislation that would work to resolve this and other farm labor problems in Vermont.

Father of Organics. Senator Leahy is a leader in the organic agriculture movement. His early work on national organic standards has earned him the title "Father of Organics." In 2007, he introduced a bill which prohibited cloned livestock from being listed as organic. He made sure that a number of organic priorities were included in the 2008 bill, including an organic certification cost share measure, mandatory funding for organic research and organic conversion assistance. These provisions significantly benefit Vermont's growing number of organic farms.

2008 Farm Bill. Senator Leahy worked to make sure that the 2008 Farm Bill included measures that were right for Vermont farmers. In addition to the organic and dairy sections, the bill included measures which supported dairy farmers' efforts to implement new conservation practices that reduce the phosphorus loading in Lake Champlain. It also raised the small state minimum to $15 million for the conservation programs, increased the food stamp amount low income Vermonters were eligible for, and increased the commodity purchasing capability of the Vermont Food Bank. The bill also included several important improvements to rural infrastructure, such as increasing funding for rural food banks and improving access to broadband. It also included increased funding to help farmers install methane digesters and make other on-farm energy efficiency improvement systems.

Farmland Protection. Senator Leahy championed the Farmland Protection Program (FPP) which was reauthorized in the 2008 Farm Bill. The FPP works with state and local agencies to purchase development rights to working farmland, helping to keep Vermont covered with open, productive farm land for generations to come. FPP has helped to permanently protect over 50,000 acres of prime Vermont agricultural land.

Support for Local Farms

Senator Leahy has championed a variety of programs to help keep local farms in our communities. From support for farm to school programs bringing fresh, local vegetables into school cafeterias, to making federal food voucher programs valid at farmers' markets, to research centers at UVM which work with Vermonters to improve artisanal cheese and maple syrup production, Senator Leahy has played a key role in promoting and maintaining local agriculture in Vermont.

Proctor Maple Research Center. Vermont accounts for nearly half of all maple syrup production in the United States. Ensuring that Vermont's small and medium scale maple syrup producers remain competitive requires public investment in research and development. Senator Leahy has made that happen with annual federal funding to UVM's Proctor Center which does original research and works with Vermont maple producers to develop best and new practices.

Vermont Institute for Artisanal Cheese. Senator Leahy has secured significant federal funding for the Institute, also a UVM facility. The Institute is focused on research in food and bio-safety issues in cheese production and distribution, informing national policies and supporting Vermont's emerging artisanal cheese makers.

Business Assistance, Planning and Technical Support. Senator Leahy has supported the Vermont Farm Viability Program and the Agricultural Innovation Demonstration Center--two programs which work for and with Vermont's farming community to develop new techniques, products and markets. The Ag Innovation Center will widen the reach of Vermont's farmers and businesses by linking their farms, goods and products directly to new customers.

Vermont Food Venture Center (VFVC). The VFVC is a shared-use kitchen incubator for value-added and specialty food producers that provides food and agricultural business consulting services, and kitchen and packing facilities to Vermont's aspiring entrepreneurs and existing food businesses. Senator Leahy has been vital to establishing the facility, and funding its annual operations and proposed future expansions.

Farmers' Markets. Senator Leahy knows that connecting consumers with local food producers plays a vital role in sustaining Vermont's agricultural economy. He has been a longtime supporter of farmers' markets in Vermont and around the country. In addition to pushing several USDA programs, he has worked to make federal food vouchers such as the Women, Infant, Children (WIC) food and nutrition program and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Food Stamps) redeemable at farmers' markets.

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