| JUNE 22, 2010 -- Dairy farming has been slowly drying up in Connecticut all around the country and rising milk prices isn't the solution to help struggling farmers.
"Milk prices came up for a short time but they've gone back down again," said Brad Davis a farmer in Sterling. Davis says he still struggles on his dairy farm even though a new baby cow graced his farm six months ago. "Moses is doing wonderful," said Davis. "He's part of the family here now and he's here to stay."
Davis says he has watched the number of dairy farmers in Connecticut decrease over the years. Now there are 151 dairy farmers in the state down from 500 twenty years ago and 210 in 2007. "We're still hopeful and we're not giving up hope," said Davis.
Since News 8 last spoke to Davis, the House of Representatives passed a resolution recognizing June as National Dairy Month and the federal government provided $350 million in emergency assistance to farmers. "That helped some, it took the pressure off for a few months," explained Davis. "But it wasn't quite enough to get caught up and we need better milk prices; we don't need handouts."
Davis suggests regional milk pricing because here in Connecticut there are higher costs associated with dairy farming than in other parts of the country.
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