dairy farms

Northeast organic dairy companies are trying to recruit consumers to help strengthen the industry after news that 135 farms in Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire and New York will lose their milk contracts. An initiative announced Wednesday by Gary Hirshberg, co-founder of organic yogurt maker and dairy company Stonyfield, encourages consumers to sign a pledge to buy a quarter of their…

Vermont’s agriculture secretary says 89 organic dairy farms in the Northeast will lose their contracts with an organic dairy company when it stops buying milk in the region by the end of August of next year.

Along Vermont’s busy Route 7 in Charlotte, the big white barn at Nordic Farms has long been a recognizable landmark. The cows that used to be there, though, are gone — it’s becoming an agricultural advancement and innovation hub.

A prominent, historic Vermont dairy farm that closed is being reimagined as a center for agricultural innovation to develop agri-businesses like distillers and botanical skin care products.

Vermont’s agriculture secretary and its lone member of the U.S. House of Representatives met with farmers Thursday, telling them in a virtual gathering that they are working to help them through the coronavirus crisis.

The coronavirus crisis could cause dairy farms to shut down with producers dealing with declining prices and losses from wholesale accounts like colleges.