Lawmakers are worried because the state Senate voted in May to initiate the state's withdrawal from the Northeast Interstate Dairy Compact. That is the message we want to deliver. They said the compact provides a stable milk price for farmers, helps retain open space, and creates jobs in an industry that is under pressure in Massachusetts. Under the compact, a 26-member commission regulates New England milk prices. Each month, the commission sets a minimum price processors must pay farmers for their milk.
State senators contend that price fixing is hurting consumers and inflating the price of milk.
While Gov. A. Paul Cellucci is vowing to veto the Senate plan if it is included in the final version of the state budget, Kulik said lawmakers should not rely on that pledge. Opponents of the compact yesterday released a list of community leaders and human-service organizations in favor of the proposed withdrawal. Michael Goldman of Boston, a spokesman for the International Dairy Foods Association, a trade organization for milk processors, said the compact is turning out to be a fiasco. Goldman pointed to statistics showing that the number of dairy farms in Massachusetts dropped from 334 in 1997, when the compact took effect, to 294. That means this has failed.