ORWELL, Vt. (WCAX) – Vermont farmers continue to struggle under severe drought conditions, with some downsizing herds and facing years of recovery as they ask for federal disaster relief.
Boston Wilbur hopes to be the sixth-generation farmer at Lazy Dog Farm in Orwell. He and his father Jesse are hunkering down for the cold season, concerned for their 60 milking cows.
“To buy stuff to keep the farm going and make it run better. So, without that money, it was a little harder to make it through some of the harder times,” Wilbur said.
The drought has forced difficult decisions for the family operation.
“We are actually downsizing our herd a little bit, sell off some of those animals to be able to afford the feed that we need. But that kind of goes against the model of our business plan of growing,” Jesse said.
The Wilburs and their farmer neighbors echoed those concerns to U.S. Senator Peter Welch on Friday in the midst of persistent drought conditions.
Welch and the rest of Vermont’s congressional delegation continue to call on the U.S. Department of Agriculture to issue a disaster declaration for the entire state. “There’s got to be some federal aid to help out when the farm conditions are impossible, and that’s what we’re seeing. It’s important for us, and Vermont, and around the country that our farmers fight another day,” Welch said.
Federal aid could help bring financial relief to farms like Lazy Dog to mitigate the challenges they face, like finding feed for the cows, which has gotten more expensive and harder to come by.
“We made 50% of the normal amount, and then we used a third of that to supplement for the summer. Normally, we make 700 to 800. This winter, we will have roughly 300 bales of our feed,” Jesse said.
The tough season will have ripple effects on the business for years to come.
Many farmers said they will need a few more years to get back to a decent spot or risk going under.
