Governor M. Jodi Rell today announced the House of Representatives has overwhelmingly approved legislation intended to save Connecticut’s $1 billion dairy industry. The House approved the bill a day after the state Senate unanimously endorsed it.
The Governor praised the strong legislative support the bill garnered from Representative Bryan Hurlburt (D-Ashford) and Senator Donald Williams and Senator Andrew Roraback, whose districts contain many of the family dairy farms and pristine countryside the state is working to preserve. The bill will be transmitted to the Governor for her signature.
“This issue is about saving an important part of Connecticut’s economy and cultural heritage,” Governor Rell said. “We have lost far too many dairy farms in recent years to high production costs and development pressure. Our dairy farmers are struggling and we recognize our responsibility to save this unique and irreplaceable part of the state’s agricultural character and preserve our ability to produce food.”
The legislation changes the funding formula for money raised by $40 fee for recording municipal land documents to be used as grants under the Community Investment Account (CIA). Under the current CIA structure, the money is divided in four equal portions or 25 percent each to the Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism (CCT) for heritage preservation, the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority (CHFA) for affordable housing, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for municipal open space and the Department of Agriculture for agriculture viability grants and farmland preservation.
The new bill would allot 20 percent each to the CCT, CHFA and DEP and use the remaining 40 percent for direct grants to dairy farmers to help them stay in business and staunch the exodus of farms. The Governor said this funding provision would sunset on July 1, 2011.
“Today was a great victory for protecting Connecticut’s heritage,” Rep. Hurlburt said after the House vote. “We have 150 farms left in the state and with the leadership from the Governor’s office and the General Assembly we can expect those 150 to stay around and help make Connecticut fertile ground for more. Protecting these farms is smart growth policy because we preserve open space, farmland and curtail sprawl.”
Connecticut currently has 151 dairy farms that use over 83,000 acres in cropland, of which 30,000 acres of that in preserved farmland. That is down from 500 farms in 1990 and 210 in 2007. During the first quarter of 2009, state dairy farmers received approximately $1.07 a gallon of milk produced, compared to $1.42 a gallon in 1998, a drop in price of nearly 25 percent.
“In these difficult economic times, this is a home-grown industry that we simply cannot afford to lose,” said Senate President Pro Tem Donald Williams (D-Brooklyn). “It is important that Connecticut's dairy farms don't get plowed over by global economic forces that are beyond their control. We cannot take for granted the thousands of acres related to the dairy industry and that we all enjoy as open space and essential to Connecticut's character. I thank the Governor for continuing to work with us, legislators from both chambers and parties, to help craft a solution."
“It is critical we act now and with a unified voice to help our family farms and maintain the culture and rural character that has defined our state for generations,” said Senator Andrew Roraback (R-Goshen). “Once these farms disappear, they are gone forever from our landscape. Governor Rell’s proposal is a much-needed remedy to reverse this trend and keep our dairy industry viable.”
The Governor has also directed the state Commissioner of Agriculture to work with other states in the Northeast to help bring change and a solution to the federal milk pricing system.
According to a 2009 University of Connecticut economic analysis, the state dairy industry generates:
· As much as $1.1 billion in sales
· Approximately 4,200 jobs
· $145 million to $208 million in personal income
Related industries include feed suppliers, fertilizer and seed suppliers, veterinary services, equipment manufacturers and distributors, processing equipment, packing materials refrigeration, transportation and energy.
In 2008, Connecticut dairy farmers produced 351 million pounds of milk, of which 40 percent was consumed in the state.
For more information on the state’s dairy industry: www.ct.gov/doag
