Farmers are embarking on the first planting season after the destructive
floods of Tropical Storm Irene, and the continued recovery coincides
with low milk prices.
Dairy farmers have one week left to decide if they’ll participate in a class
action settlement with Dean Foods. The
settlement stems from a lawsuit claiming that Dean Foods and two other entities
colluded on setting the price that farmers are paid for milk.
Representative Peter Welch discusses dairy pricing, the political climate in Washington and other issues. Plus, Senator Patrick Leahy talks about the explosive events in Egypt. And we listen back to the voices in the news this week.
Dean
Foods Company has tentatively agreed to pay Vermont dairy farmers $30 million to settle a class-action
lawsuit. Details of the settlement have not been released.
VPR’s Jane Lindholm talks with Vermont Agriculture Secretary Roger Allbee about the recent visit to Vermont by U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and how some changes to federal policy would benefit Vermont agriculture.
Vermont has more craft brewers per capita than anywhere else in the nation. We look into the industry’s recent growth. Also, an update on dairy prices and we continue our series of 400 years of Vermont music.