Hoping to give local dairy farmers a much-needed boost, Schoharie County officials Monday cut the ribbon on a milk vending machine installed a few days ago in the lobby of the County Office Building.
Monday, only a few bottles of strawberry-flavored milk remained; calls had already gone out to Dave Wood of J&D Snacks in Central Bridge, who owns the machine, for more.
“We need to keep this whole dairy situation out there,” said Board of Supervisors Chairman Earl Van Wormer, himself the son of a dairy farmer, before formal remarks began.
“Anything we can do to encourage people to drink more milk, we see as a plus. It’s a small step, sure. But we hope it’s only a first step.”
The vending machine sits outside County Clerk Indy Jaycox’s office.
If it takes off, Michele Strobeck, the county’s agricultural marketing specialist, said J&D Snacks is open to putting other local products such as maple granola, in it as well.
Mr. Van Wormer said he’d also like to see other vending machines put in the County Annex if talks of moving the Youth Bureau and Veteran’s Services there ever come to fruition.
Mr. Van Wormer said he was about 10 years old when his father sold his dairy and though he still has a hand in agriculture with sheep and chickens, he remembers the experience as traumatic.
“We need our farms,” he said. “This whole thing has become a vicious cycle. We need short-term solutions and we need long-term solutions or it’s only going to get worse.”
Though the county was unsuccessful in finding a supplier of just-local milk, milk stocked in the machines comes from HP Hood, which buys milk from local farmers through the Dairylea Cooperative.
For about a year, farmers across the country have been receiving record-low prices for their milk.
Coupled with the high cost of production, Ms. Strobeck said, this has created the worst economic crisis in the industry since the Great Depression.
“Dairy farming is the backbone of our rural economy, making this an important issue not only affecting the agricultural, but all of upstate New York’s economy, “ she added.