Welcome to the Senate Agriculture Committee’s first field hearing this year to examine the upcoming 2007 Farm Bill.  I would like to thank our witnesses today for taking time out of their busy schedules to appear here.  Your perspectives on the various Farm Bill programs that Congress will write in the coming months are important to us and the full Committee.  I would also like to encourage other interested Vermonters to submit testimony to the Committee.  The record of this hearing will remain open for five business days to allow sufficient time for written comments.

First, let me welcome Senator Bernie Sanders and Congressmen Peter Welch to the Senate Agriculture Committee.  As the former Chairman of this Committee, and acting as Chairman today, I have invited them to join me and ask any questions that they may have during the course of the hearing.  Also, Governor James Douglas was kind enough to accept my invitation to present testimony on the good work the State is undertaking to assist our farmers and rural communities.  Welcome, Governor Douglas.

Vermont’s agriculture sector is vital to our State’s future.  Farming in Vermont is more than a job or an industry.  It is a way of life.  Vermont’s landscape is defined by our farms, fields and forests, which also define much of our economy.  In particular our agricultural economy depends on the hundreds of millions of dollars dairy farmers bring to the state every year.  We all need to ensure that dairying is not only a part of Vermont’s rich past, but also a vital part of Vermont’s future.

However, our dairy farms will not be able to survive unless they can receive a fair price for the milk our farmers produce.  With the current depression in milk prices, ever increasing fuel costs and near record high feed costs, dairy producers need assistance in getting a fair price from the marketplace. 

I suspect nearly everyone in this room will agree with me that the Northeast Dairy Compact was the single best tool for getting a fair price for milk out of the market, not from the government.  Unfortunately we currently face an Administration that killed the Compact in 2001 and – with their allies in Congress -- continues to block any efforts to revive it.   

In 2002, the Vermont Congressional Delegation led the effort to create the Milk Income Loss Contract (“MILC”) program that was modeled on the benefits of the Northeast Dairy Compact.  The MILC program has delivered nearly $60 million to Vermont dairy farmers since 2002.  While not perfect, it has been an essential safety net for many.  Unlike the many of the large commodity programs run by the federal government, the MILC program is targeted to small, generally family-run farms, and it only kicks in when the market price of milk plummets.

MILC expires in the coming months before the new Farm Bill will take effect, which means we start with a baseline in which there is very little funding available for dairy programs in the next Farm Bill.  Though a difficult challenge for us, it is imperative that the program is extended for a short time to ensure that dairy programs will have an adequate level of funding during the consideration of the Farm Bill.  Much of the testimony we will hear today will help inform our efforts to build on and improve the MILC program.

However, the Farm Bill holds many opportunities in addition to dairy policy.  Ranging from important conservation programs like the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), to Rural Development assistance for our communities, to funding to enhance the productivity of working forest lands, we will hear testimony on how these Farm Bill program have worked and how they can be improved. 

And while many people think about the Farm Bill in terms of milk and other commodities, the legislation is one of the largest anti-hunger initiatives Congress will consider.  Far too many people in our communities lack resources to consistently put food on their tables for their families and for themselves.  In fact, the most recent survey of food security by the Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Agriculture documents that more than 35 million people in the United States live in households that face a constant struggle against hunger.  Some here may recall the dispute I’ve had with the Administration recently about their intention to stop using the word “hunger” and to call it “food security” instead.  But I’ll continue to call hunger by its name.  It is absolutely essential – and it is absolutely right -- that the 2007 Farm Bill address the pressing problem of hunger amid plenty, by strengthening our nation’s food assistance programs.

Finally there will be new opportunities in the next Farm Bill to expand the agriculture economy in Vermont.  On energy production, Vermont is home to many emerging technologies that are harnessing agriculture waste products to produce energy. And we lead the nation on a per capita basis on organically certified farms, an issue that is close to my heart after I authored the law that chartered the organic standards and labeling program in 1990.  We will be looking for opportunities to expand and support organics, which are the fastest growing sector of American agriculture.  The Farm Bill also presents a unique opportunity to provide real financial assistance to expand broadband coverage in Vermont that is so important to our State’s economic development. 

There are many issues to consider, and I look forward to hearing today’s testimony.  We have a strong set of witnesses that will build comprehensive record for the Vermont and Northeast priorities for the next Farm Bill. 

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