Waitsfield, Vermont - August 30, 2011
Waitsfield dairy farmer Doug Turner has his hands full.
"The water started coming through on the other side of these white bales and seeping through over here and running right down my farm lane right by the buildings," he said.
When the Mad River overflowed, it flattened nearly half his feed corn, swept dozens of bales of hay across his fields, ripped out miles of fencing and badly eroded the stream bank. If that wasn't bad enough, with many local roads and bridges out, Turner's milk hauler can't get to him.
"So they call us up and told us we should dump it. So we simply take the cap off, turn the valve and let the milk go down the drain," Turner said. "It's a losing proposition. That's your cash right there. Organically I'm averaging about $26.5 per hundredweight and you throw out 6,000 pounds-- it doesn't take very long to add up to a sizeable piece of your paycheck."
Or about $1,500 so far.
And Turner's farm wasn't even completely blocked off. State agriculture officials haven't even been able to assess yet how many farms in places like Rochester, Woodstock and Grafton are completely cut off.
"So many roads and bridges are out, it's difficult. A lot of towns are now are becoming accessible, but they're using back roads or roads with smaller bridges that may not be able to manage a milk truck, so we do have some issues out there," Vt. Deputy Agriculture Secretary Diane Bothfeld said.
The storm was also a one-two punch for farms hit by spring flooding. Turner says if he's not able to salvage his field corn, he'll likely have to buy more than half his feed for the winter. Already up to his ears in debt, he says government promises of low-interest loans won't help.
"We just can't afford to pay back that money again, so it's just like telling the public we're helping the farmers while they do nothing," Turner said. "We need grant money. We need the money they give to everyone else to get through this. And were no exceptions this year. I don't know if we can make it without it."
"The program is almost set up to take the loan out now in the short term, when the grant comes in, pays off the loan, but it's the ability to take out that loan right now. We're looking at any options," Bothfeld said.
The main option Doug Turner is looking for is the arrival of the afternoon milk truck.
Alexei Rubenstein - WCAX News
