For those who were not aware,  the Vt. Farm Bureau annual meeting was held in Rutland this week.   We went through, pretty much word by word, 52 pages of policies

So, on to Sat… many policies were changed and/or added, Dairy took center stage as this section, numbered 8, was moved to first by Jackie F. so that all attendees would still have Friday’s info. fresh in their minds, and that we would have all the time we needed (over two and a half hours were devoted to this section alone!) to finish our work. 

-Added.. Vermont Farm Bureau encourages the domestic production of milk and dairy products that are currently being imported into the U.S. (MPC’s etc..) 

-Changed… Vermont Farm Bureau supports {voluntary} dairy supply management initiatives {but opposes mandatory dairy supply management}. (the words italicized were removed from the existing state policy, clearing the way for later discussion, this was BIG)

-Added.. Vermont Farm Bureau supports dairy supply management initiatives, including mandatory ones, that will assist in creating greater price stability. We support a state, national and industry supported, long term counter cyclical program addressing the volatility in milk pricing that will provide for the viability of the dairy industry. Any such program should recognize the need for regional production of milk for food security purposes. (felt pretty good about these two policy changes! Special Thanks to the Franklin Cty delegation, Bob Foster, Marie A.)

-saved from deletion.. VFB resolves that Vermont farm employers should not be responsible for the no match Ids of employees or subject to any penalties as a result. (after discussion this was NOT deleted from the state policy as had been proposed, motion defeated by large margin)

There were many other issues discussed and voted on, but these were some of the highlights.