Eleven organic dairy farms in Vermont closed in 2021. The next year, 18 more followed. And this year the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont expects to lose another 28 farms. That data is why the association wants to see $9.2 million sent to organic dairy farmers in this year’s budget.
Gov. Phil Scott detailed a $3 million program tucked into his Budget Adjustment Act that would assist rural communities addressing water quality, housing, helping communities recover, and workforce development initiatives.
The price increase will eventually be charged to consumers, and anybody offering milk for less will be hammered with “administrative penalties.” This is nothing less than a price control takeover of the Vermont dairy industry.
Released by CBS News and YouGov, the poll found that 64% of those surveyed said the national economy is doing “fairly bad” or “very bad.” Notably, 49% of those surveyed say they feel “scared” about the fate of the U.S. in the next year.
Gas prices won’t be as volatile in 2023 as they were in 2022, but motorists can likely expect high gas prices this year, according to an analysis by GasBuddy.
The collision between Fed policy and congressional vote-buying may well lead to a recession — which will, of course, be an excuse for more spending. A lesson half-learned.
The Task Force to Revitalize the Vermont Dairy Industry proposed a series of recommendations, which will be sent by way of a report to the state Senate Agriculture Committee in January before potentially advancing to other channels in state government.
Although the White House is cheering a 7.1% inflation rate as some kind of achievement, there is not much joyfulness is so horrific a number. At that pace, prices will double in about a decade.
Business leaders from various industries emphasized the need for strategic workforce recruitment and retention efforts, and further investment in workforce housing infrastructure. These policy areas are among the top priorities for the Vermont Chamber of Commerce advocacy team in 2023.
The Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation (FPR) is beginning a public engagement process to identify opportunities to help Vermont chart a path forward to protect the long-term viability of forest-based businesses.
This is one way that Republicans can win back the middle. Now state workers know that it was the Republican governor, not the Democrat supermajority, who was the first one to be able to deliver on a plan to give them paid leave.
Vermont’s recreational cannabis market has taken off this fall in the White River Valley, with more than 25 cultivators licensed by the state Cannabis Control Board in the region and more still pending.