Draft Minutes
Northeast Dairy Compact Commission
Regular Monthly Meeting
August 8, 2001, Sovereign Best Western Hotel, Mystic,
Connecticut
Commissioners in Attendance:
RI: Jametta Alston, Al Bettencourt, Aaron Briggs, Ron Newman and
Peter Petrone
MA: Gordon Cook and William Gillmeister (designee for Commissioner
Jay Healy)
VT: Jacques
Couture, Andy Dykstra, Harold Howrigan, Millicent Rooney and Robert Starr
NH: Powell Cabot and Douglas Morris
ME: Colon Durrell, Fred Hardy, and Stan Millay
CT: Robert Jacquier, Neil Marcus, Shirley Ferris, Bob D’Alessandro
and Mae Schmidle
Commission Staff in
Attendance:
Daniel Smith, Executive
Director; Thomas Lehner, Staff Counsel; Carmen Ross, Regulations Administrator;
Nancy Audette, Office Manager; Amy Mandeville, Public Information Administrator
Chair Mae Schmidle called
the meeting to order at 10:05 a.m.
Congressman Robert Simmons
discussed the importance of the Compact and reviewed its status in Congress.
(Statement
attached)
Bob Wellington from Agri-Mark thanked Congressman Simmons for his
efforts on behalf of the Compact. He spoke about a meeting on Wednesday, August
1, 2001 with the Speaker of the House and approximately 40 Congressman, and
said he thought it had gone very well. He said he had the impression the
opposition was impressed, if not persuaded by pro-Compact arguments.
Gabe Moquin, Connecticut Department of Agriculture; Representative John
Mordasky; Representative Jack Tiffany; Charles White, general manager of the
Central Connecticut Farmer’s Co-op; Melissa Greenbacker, dairy farmer; Bob
Jacquier, dairy farmer; Patrick Klein, dairy farmer; Janet Peracchio, dairy
farmer; Bill Peracchio, dairy farmer; Christopher Field, documentary producer;
Ray DiSanto, Federal Milk Market Administrator; Annie Ross; Gail Peterson; Dave
Jacquier, dairy farmer; Bob Carlson, dairy farmer; State Representative Phil
Prelli; Ed Platt, dairy farmer; Scott Blake, H.P. Hood; Chuck Lawson, Ohio
dairy farmer; John Miller, Ohio dairy farmer; Grace Nome, Connecticut Food
Association; Gail Christianson; Ray Christianson, NYSDAM; Carl Peterson,
Agri-Mark; Carey McLure, president of the Ohio Farm Bureau; Bonnie Fitten, Ohio
dairy farmer; Bob Wellington, Agri-Mark economist; Angela LaVallee, consumer;
Kate Zeosky, New York State Senator Nancy Hoffman’s office; John Schneider,
Connecticut Department of Agriculture; Walt Bradway, dairy farmer; Tom Stanton, farm equipment dealer; Roger
Hayes, dairy farmer; Mark Winne, Hartford Food System; Pat Green, New England
Country Folks; Jack Collins, dairy farmer; Mavis Collins, dairy farmer; Richard
Weingart, hoof trimmer, “There’ve been a lot more payments made a lot faster
since we got the Compact.”; Joyce Lehner, dairy farm bookkeeper; Constance
Jackson, Ohio Farm Bureau; Matthew Freund, dairy farmer; Dorey Carlson, dairy
farmer; Connie Futon, dairy farmer; Ken Dibbell, New York dairy farmer.
Motion – 8/8-1 by Harold Howrigan/ Second by Fred
Hardy
Moved to accept the minutes of July 9, 2001 monthly meeting.
Commissioner Colon Durrell
said he would present a motion on behalf of the Finance Committee during the
New Business section of the agenda.
A. Chair’s Report
Chair Schmidle read letters
presented by Senator Lieberman, Congressman Rosa L. DeLauro and State Senator
Andrew Rorabeck.
(Statements
attached)
B.
Executive Director’s Report
Mr. Dan Smith complimented
the impressive turnout at the meeting, calling it positive, encouraging and
motivating.
Mr. Smith said that since
the last meeting he has been primarily focused on preparing the testimony given
in Washington to the Judiciary Committee.
Mr. Smith said implementing
the Supply Management Program has been challenging, being essentially without
precedent anywhere. He said he feels the staff and Regulations Committee are
generally well prepared in terms of dealing with project complications.
Mr. Tom Lehner said the
School Lunch Program is progressing on schedule, with all states having
reported. Mr. Lehner reviewed some of the mechanics of the Supply Management
Program.
Commissioner Fred Hardy
asked if the Supply Management Program would result in two checks for eligible
farmers. Mr. Lehner explained the payment was figured from the sum of two
different formulas, but each eligible farmer would receive only one check.
Mr. Smith briefly reviewed
the budgetary and procedural issues surrounding the September 30 sunset date
and potential later reauthorization.
In response to an inquiry
about the Compact’s status in Congress, Mr. Smith said the issue of the
Northeast Dairy Compact Commission is now in front of Congress as an issue of
primary concern. He said the Compact is in a better position now than it has
ever been in the past. He indicated he is attempting, on behalf of the
Commission to put as much information in front of Congress in as non-political a
way as possible. He said that, unlike authorization and reauthorization efforts
in the past, Congress is looking at what the Compact has done rather than what
it might do.
Commissioner Andy Dykstra
asked about the possibility of a temporary extension past September 30. Mr.
Smith said it is a possibility that Senator Daschle has said he is receptive
to. He noted the Compact Commission would have no legal authority after
September without an extension and without authorization.
Commissioner Gordon Cook asked
if the Compact is understood as a state’s rights issue in Washington. Mr. Smith
indicated that it certainly was noted that 22 of the 25 governors in favor of
the Compact have sent letters supporting the Compact to the Judiciary
Committee.
Commissioner Howrigan cited
the essential contradiction of giving farm assistance to 10 states while
arguing over allowing six states to continue with a fiscal program not
requiring federal money.
Mr.
Smith welcomed the guests from Ohio.
C. Committee on Administration
Commissioner Peter Petrone
confirmed the Committee on Administration had discussed via conference call the
issues discussed by Mr. Smith.
A. Recommendations
of Committee on Finance
Moved to file for audit the June 30, 2001 financial
statement
A.
The Environment, Open Spaces and Food Security
Commissioner Shirley Ferris
introduced Mark Winne, Connecticut Committee of Food Security representative
and executive director of the Hartford Food System.
(Statement attached)
On behalf of the Commission,
Commissioner Ferris Presented 2001 Recognition Awards to State Representative
John Mordasky and Former State Representative Jack Tiffany.
Representative Mordasky said
he was able to put two of his children through veterinary school in the early
1980s when milk prices were higher. He described the Dairy Compact as a
determining factor for keeping farms operational.
Mr. Tiffany said he believes
the current situation of the Compact is due in some part to retribution for
Vermont Senator James Jeffords party switch earlier in the year.
“It’s tough enough to be
voted down on merit,” said Mr. Tiffany. “To go down because of partisan
bickering is tragic.”
Mr. Tiffany said he would
hate in the future for the viability of his dairy farm to rest on the largess
of the federal government rather than the value of his product.
Commissioner Robert Jacquier
welcomed Commissioners to Connecticut.
New York Dairy Farmer Ken
Dibbell said Mr. Smith and Commissioner Healy did an outstanding job at the
Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.
2001
Recognition Awards (cont.)
Commissioner Ferris gave
Jack R.H. Blum, former commissioner of the Connecticut Department of
Agriculture, a 2001 Recognition Award.
Mr. Blum said it was
extraordinary that six states had passed Compact legislation and then passed
legislation through Congress. He indicated it was the result of “people of good
will” working successfully together, and complimented the Commission for their
actions, too, as “people of good will.”
State Senator Cathy Cook encouraged
more focus on preserving working farms than on simply preserving open space.
State Representative Phil
Prelli said the Compact Price Regulation allows farmers to make more capital
investments, and to plan for the future. He said milk processors benefit by
having a steady supply from known producers.
Representative Mordasky
discussed milk trucks in Connecticut.
Lieutenant Governor Rell
thanked the Compact Commission for their work. She described the Compact as
crucial to the health of Connecticut dairy farming. She said 70 percent of
Connecticut’s working land is dairy farmland.
VIII. Informational Presentations (cont.)
C.
The Compact and
Connecticut Farmers
Erica Fearn, Executive
Director of the Connecticut Farm Bureau, said the Dairy Compact makes a
difference to farmers in that it increases their economic confidence and sense
of security, and encourages them to spend money on infrastructure. She said currently
40 percent of the milk processed in Connecticut comes from Connecticut farms,
and that shipping raw milk within the region instead of getting it from outside
the region helps to save on transportation costs.
Matthew Freund, a
representative from the Litchfield County Dairy Committee, described the
Compact as an equitable way to encourage the production of fresh milk in an
environmentally responsible way.
Tim Slate, an equipment
representative and spokesman for Very Alive, said the Compact offers stability
to farming and secondary industries without detriment to the consumer.
(Statement attached.)
Melissa Greenbacker, a young
Connecticut dairy farmer, discussed the Compact as crucial to the next
generation of New England dairy farmers.
(Statement attached)
Mr. Smith reviewed with the
Commission his testimony before the United States Judiciary Committee, July 25,
2001
(statement attached)
The Commission scheduled its
next regular monthly meeting for September 5, 2001 in a location in New
Hampshire to be decided.
XII. Chair Schmidle adjourned the meeting at
3:20 p.m.
Respectfully
submitted,
Douglas
Morris
Secretary