Department of Agriculture, last week when Vilsack visited Vermont. He also raised the issue with Tom Vilsack, secretary of the U.S. He’s working to assemble a task force to address the issue, he said, and expects it to include farmers, Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont, the University of Vermont Extension, the Vermont Farm Bureau and economic development officials. Tebbetts said he held a conference call last week with farmers who expressed great concern about the decision. “Right now, we have no options,” he said. He spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was concerned that Danone could act against him. He began calling around to other milk companies, but everyone, including non-organic buyers, was full. One farmer, located in the northeast region of the state, said he heard rumors about Danone’s decision three months ago. Danone bought Horizon Organic five years ago. Representatives from Danone did not respond to requests for comment. Vermont had a total of 181 organic dairy farms at the end of 2020, according to the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont. Organic dairy farms decreased by 8% between 20. The number of dairy farms in Vermont has decreased by 37% in the past 10 years and by 69% in the past 24 years, according to a 2021 report from the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation. The move represents the latest blow to an industry that has been struggling for years from rising production costs that have outpaced consumer prices. In total, 79 farmers from Vermont, New Hampshire, New York and Maine received letters last week with the news, Tebbetts said. “This is a regional decision,” said Anson Tebbetts, secretary of the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets.
More than two dozen of Vermont’s small- to medium-sized organic farmers received letters from Danone last week that say their contracts will end on Aug. Other buyers in the area, including Stonyfield Organic, Organic Valley and Upstate Niagara Cooperative, appear to have limited capacity to accept new producers. Photo by Elizabeth Gribkoff/VTDiggerĭanone, a global food company and the owner of Horizon Organic, plans to terminate contracts next year with all of its organic dairy farmers in Vermont and other parts of the Northeast, leaving farmers without buyers for their milk. A dairy cow is pictured in this 2019 file photo.
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