Hood drops more organic dairy farms
4/6/09 | 16 comments

Hood drops more organic dairy farms


Industry scrambling to keep Maine milk producers’ going
By Sharon Kiley Mack
BDN Staff

CLINTON, Maine — In late February, dairy giant H.P. Hood told eight Maine organic dairy farmers in Aroostook and Washington counties that their milk contracts would not be renewed. Hood then notified its remaining 14 contracted organic milk producers that they must cut their production this year by 15 percent.

Now, two major producers in central Maine also have been dropped by Hood: Richard Lary in Clinton, whose farm produces 11,000 pounds of milk every other day, and Mark McKusick in Dexter.

Both men have been outspoken against Hood’s practices, and Lary said Saturday he believes the pair are being punished by Hood for their active campaign against the production cuts.

“There’s no doubt in my mind this is a punishment,” Lary said. “Me? I’ll probably go back to conventional [milk], and Mark is talking about selling his cows. It ain’t looking good.”

For both conventional and organic milk, this spring is the worst of times for milk producers. Prices being paid for milk are way under the cost of production, back to Depression-era prices, farmers say. Because organic farmers are paid premiums for their milk, reverting to conventional will mean a massive pay cut for any organic farmer making the switch. Conventional farmers are paid about half what organic farmers get for their milk.

There are 72 farms in Maine that produce organic milk. Some sell to processors such as Hood, Organic Valley and Horizon Cooperative. Others sell to local markets, off-farm and through community-supported agriculture shares, in which consumers purchase shares in a farm’s coming harvest. Hood ships Maine’s organic milk to New York to be processed and packaged, then returns it to Maine, where it is sold as Stonyfield Farm Organic Milk.

Meanwhile, Maine’s dairy supporters — the Maine Department of Agriculture, Maine Farm Bureau, University of Maine Cooperative Extension, Downeast Business Alliance and others — are working together on a solution.

“Our first effort is to keep these farms in business,” David Bright of the MFB Marketing Committee said Saturday.

Bright said that Bill Eldridge of GWE Consulting has been hired to conduct a serious inventory of where Maine’s organic milk comes from and where it goes. He is being paid with a grant from the U.S Department of Agriculture.

Bright said a $90,500 emergency grant was submitted to the USDA last week to conduct a study of options and come up with a plan that would structure a statewide distribution system. This system would allow organic dairy farmers in Washington and Aroostook counties to move their milk — as a Maine-branded product — into grocery stores across the state.

Bright said the plan could provide a template for other states facing similar issues to use.

The details in the grant include:

• Certification for all milk farms, processors and shippers involved.

• Creating transportation routes that are most cost-efficient.

• Measuring and tracking each farm’s production for payment and tracking of quality and volume.

• Identifying or planning a processing facility for effective production of organic milk.

• Establishing quality standards for all Maine-produced organic milk products, including labeling and packing standards.

• Developing a marketing plan to promote local Maine agriculture.

While awaiting word on the grant, Bright said, nobody involved is sitting on their hands.

Several Maine dairies that now process conventional milk have been approached about taking on the organic milk. Oakhurst in Portland, Garelick in Bangor and Houlton Farms Dairy have been involved in these discussions, Bright said.

“Even Wal-Mart has expressed an interest in selling a Maine-branded milk and even locating a local foods processing center in Maine,” Bright said.

“The amount of support out there has been astounding,” he said. “Everyone is realizing that local is beginning to outtrump organic in the retail market.”

Bright said a lot of people buy Oakhurst milk because of its Maine Quality Seal, which ensures that 80 percent of the milk comes from Maine farms. “If people were offered a Maine-branded organic milk, they’d buy it,” he said.

Bright said the group is also looking at buying a facility, such as Houlton Farms, the Bangor-based Garelick plant or a defunct water-bottling plant in Garfield Plantation, and adapting it to the Maine-branded product.

“Right now, there is a lot of stuff circling, a lot of balls are in the air,” Bright said. Time is of the essence, he said, with the first dropped contract expiring in August, and others at various times through June 2010.

Organic dairies have grown by leaps and bounds throughout New England over the past 15 years. By 2006, organic dairy farming had become the fastest-growing agricultural sector in New England, and Maine had the highest percentage — 16 percent — of organic dairy farms compared with conventional farms in the country.

The farms that have been dropped in Maine’s two northernmost counties were heavily courted three years ago. Many of them were conventional dairy farms that were lured into organic because of Hood’s promises of security.

David James at James Pond Dairy in Charlotte switched to organic production just last June.

“Hood kept at us and kept at us to get going as organic as fast as possible. They promised a rosy future, then, three years later, they shut us off,” James said.

Hood maintains that with the declining economy, the demand for organic milk has just not caught up with production, according to Hood spokeswoman Lynn Bohan.

“Due to a softening in organic milk sales triggered by the recent economic downturn, Hood has made this difficult decision,” Bohan said when the original cuts were announced. “Increased transportation costs also factored into Hood’s decision, as the raw organic milk procured in outlying areas must be shipped to the company’s processing plants.”

Last week, Bohan said she could not say how many producers have voluntarily agreed to a 15 percent cut in production and declined to discuss further contract eliminations.

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Comments
16 comments on this item
On 4/6/09 at 2:28 AM, MurphyL wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

I live in TX and I will buy anything that has the MAINE seal on it.......

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On 4/6/09 at 4:47 AM, DouglasWatts wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Good for David Bright, who if I am not mistaken, used to work for the BDN. It is critical that Maine's dairy farms stay in business. Having local food producers, who are trying to do the right thing, is vital to the short-term and long-term health of the state. As stated above, having milk branded as made in Maine is vitally important. People will tend to pay more for local stuff if they know it helps their own neighbors. It's like giving a tip.

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On 4/6/09 at 4:51 AM, DouglasWatts wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

“Due to a softening in organic milk sales triggered by the recent economic downturn, Hood has made this difficult decision,” Bohan said when the original cuts were announced. “Increased transportation costs also factored into Hood’s decision, as the raw organic milk procured in outlying areas must be shipped to the company’s processing plants.”

--

Here's the real problem. Maine milk has to get shipped 200 miles to get processed, just so it can get shipped back up to Maine in "Hood" containers. And the customer has to pay for all of that fuel used in tank and trailer trucks.

This is why the original, local dairy and milkman made a lot more economic sense: lower transportation costs and much less transportation redundancy.

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On 4/6/09 at 7:08 AM, rockstars wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Let's buy straight from the dairy farmers.Maine is in big business's pocket.

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On 4/6/09 at 7:38 AM, freerange wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Who wants processed milk? =)

I buy mine local, organic and straight from the farmer.

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On 4/6/09 at 8:26 AM, Chris1943 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

I am boycotting all Hood dairy products. I buy Oakhurst, even though it is a bit more than store brand or Hood.

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On 4/6/09 at 8:37 AM, eastmainer wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

I BUY OAKHURST OR GRANTS . GRANTS IS BOTTLED IN BANGOR. THE EXTRA PRICE IS NOT BAD AND THE MILK TASTES GOOD. I TRIED OTHER IMPORTED BRANDS AND THEY DON'T TASTE LIKE MILK---MAYBE THEY AREN'T !!! PLEASE SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL MAINE AGRICULTURE AND DAIRIES.

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On 4/6/09 at 8:56 AM, GrizzlyAdams wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

"Hood ships Maine’s organic milk to New York to be processed and packaged, then returns it to Maine, where it is sold as Stonyfield Farm Organic Milk."

Need I quote more? Change is in order.

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On 4/6/09 at 9:07 AM, Lobstarok wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

So do any of the folks yapping about shipping it out of state to be processed know what it cost to process it in state? My guess is it is too high to justify a plant in-state. Does this mean thry should get state money to keep in business? Gee Whiz maybe I can get me some of that state cash to pay my way too

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On 4/6/09 at 9:17 AM, GrizzlyAdams wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Let me explain....Slapping a Stonyfeild label on an item doesn't improve the quality of said product, and therefore justifying the price increase. Keep things local, for crying out loud.

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On 4/6/09 at 11:28 AM, glenna wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

AGAIN - If the Maine PUC was working FOR Mainers instead of against us, then processing milk here in state wouldn't cost an arm and a leg! It's about time OUR Legislature started working FOR Maine instead of itself. Maybe the Change we voted for this past November needs to come home to roost right here in Maine. And we sure aren't getting it with the Maine brand of Democrat!

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On 4/6/09 at 11:58 AM, mariahstorm wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

let them go....with a boot ! threats are probably due to them wanting a BIG FOR SALE PRICE!!!!!!!

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On 4/6/09 at 6:50 PM, WillBee wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Buy stuff if it is from local people?! That really doesn't make economic, or cerebral, sense.

So if you live in ME, but on the border of NH, you buy Maine products. And if you then move across the street you are supposed to buy NH products? Why not just buy the least expensive best quality product?

Tell ya what - if you want to 'tip' Maine producers do this; Buy the cheapest best product, and then send the difference in cost by post to the more expensive Maine producer. You'll be 'helping' them, 'feeling good about yourself' and the Maine producer won't owe tax on your gift.

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On 4/7/09 at 5:09 AM, Laura228 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

If you'd like to show your support for Maine organic milk in Maine stores, visit http://www.maineorganicmilk.com and complete a survey about your milk buying preferences.

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On 4/7/09 at 8:29 AM, DLilley wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

I would like to set the record straight on a few comments made in this article by David Bright.

"Several Maine dairies that now process conventional milk have been approached about taking on the organic milk. Oakhurst in Portland, Garelick in Bangor and Houlton Farms Dairy have been involved in these discussions, Bright said."

Houlton Farms Dairy's only involvement in this process has been phone calls made to them by various entities working on this project. Houlton Farms Dairy is no longer involved in these discussions and has stated that while they are sympathetic to these farmers losing their markets, in these trying economic times it would not be a financially viable option for them.

"Bright said the group is also looking at buying a facility, such as Houlton Farms, the Bangor-based Garelick plant or a defunct water-bottling plant in Garfield Plantation, and adapting it to the Maine-branded product."

Houlton Farms Dairy is NOT for sale. Mr. Bright is way off base with this comment and this should NOT have been mentioned in this article, as it has a potentially negative impact on their business. Houlton Farms Dairy is a member of Maine Farm Bureau and this type of comment should not be put forth by someone (Mr. Bright) who acts as a representative of the Bureau. I also find this to be poor journalism, reporters should do a bit of fact checking, rather than just taking someone at their word. This statement gives people the impression that a private business is for sale, when in fact it is NOT. I'm not impressed.

" Bright said a lot of people buy Oakhurst milk because of its Maine Quality Seal, which ensures that 80 percent of the milk comes from Maine farms. “If people were offered a Maine-branded organic milk, they’d buy it,” he said."

This is a great "plug" for Oakhurst, but should a representative of the Maine Farm Bureau be mentioning them without mentioning Houlton Farms Dairy ? Houlton Farms Dairy milk is 100% from Maine, 100% from Aroostook County and all farms are located within 15 miles of their processing plants. Now thats LOCAL. that's MAINE.

Dan Lilley

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On 4/12/09 at 10:41 AM, WillBee wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Wow. Local from Maine. Big dea.

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