NH Outlook Talk Show , Friday, 12/11/2009
script iconSUN/MON PROMO script iconThanks/Goodbye
script iconSHOW OPEN script iconWeb Promo
script iconHello/Intro Dairy script iconKey: Business/ Industry
script iconSet up PKG script iconKey: Consumerism
script iconConversation script iconKey: Economy

script iconSUN/MON PROMO
Return to index of stories... 		Soundup: Milking cows
Losing money with every gallon sold. NH Dairy producers look for a way to save their farms.
script iconSHOW OPEN
Return to index of stories... 		Preshow:
Soundup: Cows milking
Paying to work. NH Dairy producers lose money with every gallon of milk they sell. Is there a future in dairy farming?
script iconHello/Intro Dairy
Return to index of stories... 		HELLO. I'M RICHARD AGER. WELCOME TO NEW HAMPSHIRE OUTLOOK. AS YOU GET READY TO RAISE A HOLIDAY GLASS OF EGG NOG, YOU SHOULD SAY THANKS TO YOUR LOCAL DAIRY FARMER. WHY? BECAUSE HE'S SUBSIDIZING YOUR BEVERAGE BY LOSING MONEY ON IT. IN FACT, DAIRY FARMS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE AND ACROSS NEW ENGLAND ARE IN DIRE STRAITS, SINKING DEEPER INTO DEBT. WE'LL TALK ABOUT THE REASONS AND POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS IN A FEW MOMENTS, BUT FIRST, A VISIT TO A DAIRY FARM IN CONTOOCOOK.
script iconSet up PKG
Return to index of stories... 		Dairy Farm Script:
Soundup: Disk 1 Disk 2 14:35:55 That's going to be a nice animal
Track: Heather and Jamie Robertson were born to be farmers. Heather's the fourth generation of her family on this farm , which has now been in the family for more than a century.
Bite: Disk 1 13:57:05 HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS YOU HAVE HAD THE FARM? Challenging. Definitely up and down.
Bite: Disk 1 13:57:55 Dairy has always fluctuated up and down and you go below the cost of productions from time to time. In 2006, when it did it for 6 months or so, that was the longest it had done it to that point. To do it for 12 months - as in this last time - was unforeseen.
Track: Unforeseen is putting it mildly. Over the past year, every gallon of milk they have sold has cost them - sometimes as much as a dollar a gallon.
Bite: Disk 1 13:58:35 Everything is going up Everything costs more. WHY AREN'T YOU ABLE TO SIMPLY CHARGE MORE? I think it's the lack of competition for buying raw milk. We only have two potential outlets for buying raw milk and one of those - most of the market is controlled by one of those two choices.
Soundup: HP Hood plant
Track: Milk pricing is complex because it goes through a number of stages. Usually, the farmer sells the raw milk to a coop which picks it up at the farm and delivers it to a processing dairy. There are two major processors in New England. Dean Foods which controls brands including Garelick Farms and H.P. Hood. The processors then sell to grocery stores and other distributors.
Track: The plight of the farmers prompted this hearing by The Milk Producers Emergency Relief Fund, which has a state mandate - but no funding.
Bite: Disk 1 12:06:25 Can someone explain why the Shaws and Hannafords can raise their prices but the farmers cannot?
Bite: Disk 1 12:07:15 The share of the food dollar has decreased dramatically to the farmers. 20 years ago, it was 50%. Now it's 30%. The retailer has higher costs but they can capture those higher costs but farmers haven't been able to do so. And we see one thing that works against farmers - and that's the ratchet effect. When the price of milk goes up, it gets passed on very quickly to consumers in the store. But when the price of milk comes down, it comes down very slowly if it comes down at all.
Track: Farmers say they represent more than just a local milk supply.
Bite: Disk 1 11:51:44 My neighbors are all concerned that my farm stay in business because of the open land, because of the snowmobilers, because of the hunting and all the uses of the land that I let happen because I'm a working farm. They know the farm has to keep working to keep that land open.
Track: Surveys show consistent public support for keeping local farms operating, so the “Keep Local Farms” initiative is looking to cash in on that support by branding milk from local farms with a logo.
Bite: Disk 1 12:03:00 The consumer goes to the grocery store and says if I buy this milk, then I'm supporting local farmers and then drives down the road and sees the sign and says - that's one of the farms I'm helping to keep. And it's a really classy logo - I see a lot of value in getting that logo out on more things but I think - that's going to take some education on the farmers' side.
Track: Such initiatives take time, which the Robertsons didn't have. So they have just literally bet their future on the farm as a farm by selling the development rights - on a property with considerable river frontage.
Bite: Disk 1 14;01:27 HOW HARD A DECISION WAS THAT? I think given the consequences, that the land would be developed, I think that was quite easy to sell the development rights to prevent the development of the land in any instance.
Bite: Disk 1 14;02:40 Keep a small bit of nature in everything that's going up around us. YOU FEEL PRETTY STRONGLY ABOUT THIS. Definitely, definitely.
Bite: Disk 1 YOU COULD HAVE MADE MONEY SELLING LAND FOR MCMANSIONS AND VACATION HOMES. 14:02:15 I think it's our responsibility to my great grandfather. I think it's our responsibility to our great grandkids I think that's the way I look at it.
END OF SCRIPT
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Return to index of stories... 		WE ARE COMING TO YOU FROM THE POLITICAL LIBRARY AT THE STATE LIBRARY IN CONCORD. OUR GUESTS INCLUDE;
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Return to index of stories... 		Thank you for watching this edition of NH Outlook. I'm Richard Ager, I'll see you next time.
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script iconKey: Business/ Industry
Return to index of stories... 		NEW HAMPSHIRE OUTLOOK Air Date/Time: 12/11/2009
HOST: Richard Ager Length: 25:22
Hello. I'm Richard Ager. Welcome to NH Outlook. As you get ready to raise a holiday glass of egg nog, you should say thanks to your local dairy farmer. Why? Because he's subsidizing your beverage by losing money on it. In fact, dairy farms in NH and accross New England are in dire straits, sinking deeper into debt. We'll talk about the reasons and possble solutions in a few moments, but first, a visit to a dairy farm in Contoocook.
PRODUCER/REPORTER: Richard Ager NAME OF PARTICIPANTS: Jamie Robertson/Dairy Farmer, Contoocook, NH, Heather Robertson\Dairy Farmer, Contoocook, NH, Bob Wellington\Agri-Mark,Deb Erb\Dairy Farmer, Landaff, NH,Lorraine Merrill\NH Commissioner of Agriculture, and
Lynne Bohan\VP of Public Relations and Govt. Affairs, H.P. Hood.
script iconKey: Consumerism
Return to index of stories... 		NEW HAMPSHIRE OUTLOOK Air Date/Time: 12/11/2009
HOST: Richard Ager Length: 25:22
Hello. I'm Richard Ager. Welcome to NH Outlook. As you get ready to raise a holiday glass of egg nog, you should say thanks to your local dairy farmer. Why? Because he's subsidizing your beverage by losing money on it. In fact, dairy farms in NH and accross New England are in dire straits, sinking deeper into debt. We'll talk about the reasons and possble solutions in a few moments, but first, a visit to a dairy farm in Contoocook.
PRODUCER/REPORTER: Richard Ager NAME OF PARTICIPANTS: Jamie Robertson/Dairy Farmer, Contoocook, NH, Heather Robertson\Dairy Farmer, Contoocook, NH, Bob Wellington\Agri-Mark,Deb Erb\Dairy Farmer, Landaff, NH,Lorraine Merrill\NH Commissioner of Agriculture, and
Lynne Bohan\VP of Public Relations and Govt. Affairs, H.P. Hood.
script iconKey: Economy
Return to index of stories... 		NEW HAMPSHIRE OUTLOOK Air Date/Time: 12/11/2009
HOST: Richard Ager Length: 25:22
Hello. I'm Richard Ager. Welcome to NH Outlook. As you get ready to raise a holiday glass of egg nog, you should say thanks to your local dairy farmer. Why? Because he's subsidizing your beverage by losing money on it. In fact, dairy farms in NH and accross New England are in dire straits, sinking deeper into debt. We'll talk about the reasons and possble solutions in a few moments, but first, a visit to a dairy farm in Contoocook.
PRODUCER/REPORTER: Richard Ager NAME OF PARTICIPANTS: Jamie Robertson/Dairy Farmer, Contoocook, NH, Heather Robertson\Dairy Farmer, Contoocook, NH, Bob Wellington\Agri-Mark,Deb Erb\Dairy Farmer, Landaff, NH,Lorraine Merrill\NH Commissioner of Agriculture, and Lynne Bohan\VP of Public Relations and Govt. Affairs, H.P. Hood.
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