Farming struggles

Becky Nelson
Bramblings
I am worried. Recent news that the price of milk has dropped again is going to put even more small dairy farmers out of the marketplace and out of a job. My way of life has been repeatedly threatened over the last few decades, with small and medium-sized dairy farmers, vegetable farmers, sheep farmers, orchardists and diversified enterprises like ours feeling the squeeze and opting to turn their attention to new career paths to support their families. Sadly, it’s not just dairy farmers who are looking at their bottom line and seeing shrinking profits. Small and medium-sized farmers in every corner are feeling the pinch as production costs rise and sales costs stay flat, shrink or disappear.

With the vast majority of farmers in the U.S. rapidly approaching or reaching retirement years, the picture is even gloomier. Some dairy farms, like ours, transitioned to new ventures years ago. Reading the writing on the wall, the small dairy farm run by my father and grandmother opted to phase out and survive raising hay, beef cattle, replacement heifers for other dairy farmers, some timber and firewood and became a part-time enterprise for many decades as my father worked off the farm to raise the family. Only when my husband and I dedicated our careers to once again become a “paying” enterprise did we become a full-time farm again, supporting my parents while I worked off the farm to support our growing family.

But now we, like my other farming friends and acquaintances in the dairy industry, are facing a crossroad and entering a difficult time. Not only are changing climate and weather patterns threatening our ability to continue business, but things like consumer buying habits and rising supply costs are changing at an alarming rate and we small farmers are feeling a tremendous pinch in every pocket. With talk of inflation about to hit the economic scene, with property taxes rising at significant rates, with the cost of electricity and maintenance creeping up at alarming rates, all of us who run small businesses may be struggling to adapt and survive, let alone thrive. My husband and I have recently discussed some difficult business discussions and made some painful changes with others looming, and I can guarantee other farmers around us have had the same. Shrink back to a size that extra help need not be hired and run the course until retirement (which for most of us is just a handful of years)? Chop the farm into bite-size pieces and try to cash in on land value to pay for our latter years? Try brand-new enterprises to try to meet the debt and the bills and hope we can preserve the land somehow? Try to entice some young blood into carrying on the rural traditions and farming business we have struggled to establish and hope some new thoughts and new directions will help us keep the farm? It is tough for a young person to want to enter into a career in an industry struggling to survive when they can make a better living elsewhere. Very, very difficult decisions are being made around lots of farm tables.

It is very sad to me that we have to be making these decisions. The pressure in the country for low food prices and the competition of tremendous farms in all farming enterprises is ringing a steady death knell for small farms. There are only so many small farms that a local farmers’ market can support. Getting folks to make yet another stop at a farmstand or a farm outside of their normal commute is a huge challenge, as well, as grocery stores have seemingly endless shelves of good quality produce and foods at low prices that would have farm owners practically giving their products away and would bring the death of the farm just that much closer. People are busy and turn to the internet for faster service than most farmers can provide and the cost of shipping for little producers makes internet competition almost impossible.

The breaking point is near, very near. We are going to see an even more drastic change in the landscape of the twin states of New Hampshire and Vermont very soon. It is time for our government representatives to step in and help struggling farmers of all products — milk, beef, vegetables, fruits. We farmers are a very tiny voice, less than 1 percent of the population. It will be difficult to be heard. We need all friends of farming to help. Contact your government representatives in your towns, your state offices, your federal offices. Let them know we are hurting and ask for creative solutions to help us to survive — if you find us small and medium-size farms valuable assets in your communities.

Some have sought to “sell” or donate their development rights to their farm property to preserve the open land itself and used the funds to continue farming. We are seeking this relief, ourselves. But this is a band-aid and a temporary fix. We may be able to pay off some debt in the short term but the economic viability of the business of farming is still tentative, at best. That farmers are forced to give up some control of their own destinies in land right turnover in order to keep paying the taxes and meeting expenses is heartbreaking.

Electricity rate rebates. Fuel rebates. Tax abatements even larger than current use rates. Health insurance rate reductions. Farm subsidies. Reduced loan rates. I’m sure some of these things are available even now but farm ownership by an individual or a couple means we are working more hours than we are able to make phone calls, do paperwork or seek assistance. There are no easy answers. It’s getting harder every day to survive. We small farmers produce a lot of food, and if we disappear or diminish, everyone will rely on big farms and big enterprises for the food on their plates, which raise a whole set of unintended consequences that will be nearly impossible to overcome with land development, food quality issues and food availability when natural disasters strike other parts of the country.

Think about where your food comes from. Make a change and visit a small store or farmstand in your area to buy produce, milk, maple syrup, honey and local meats. Help small dairy farmers by buying local milk from processers in New England. Talk to your government representatives to introduce legislation to cut red tape and support small local farmers. I don’t want to seem gloomy or fatalistic, but the farming climate is changing and farmers need to change to survive.

My son calls me “Debbie Downer.” I prefer to be called a realist. Things are changing and we must get creative and change along with the changes if we want to remain farmers.

Becky is co-owner of Beaver Pond Farm in Newport. Email her at [email protected]