Mainebiz

V O L . X X V N O. X I V J U LY 8 , 2 0 1 9 18 A U G U S TA / WAT E R V I L L E / C E N T R A L M A I N E F O C U S Energy partnership Summit plans to build an anaerobic digestion facility on the Flood Brothers farm and create renewable biogas from manure provided by Flood Brothers Farm, Caverly Farms, Misty Meadows Farm, Wright Place Farm, Taylor Dairy Farm, Veazland Farm, Simpson View Farm and Gold-Top Farm. In exchange, the farms will receive byproducts of the digestion process — nutrient-dense liquid effluent that can be used as a soil amendment, and a dry mixture that can be used for cow bed- ding or for compost. "We'll be lending them the manure," says Tilton-Flood. "ey'll get good stuff out of it. For us, it's like getting paid with time. Instead of moving and storing manure, we'll have more time available to manage our farm. at's big." Anaerobic digestion is com- mon elsewhere in the world. But the concept is relatively recent in Maine, where there's only one facility so far. In Penobscot County, Exeter Agri- Energy works with Stonyvale Farm and Agri-Cycle to produce biogas. Food waste supplied by Agri-Cycle is used in the fuel mix. e facility, which is in the town of Exeter, went live in 2011 and today processes 30,000 gal- lons of manure per day. A critical mass of manure is needed to make the venture possible, says Dan Bell, Exeter Agri-Energy's presi- dent. e relationship with Stonyvale, Maine's second-largest dairy farm, makes the investment worthwhile. And Stonyvale receives back fertilizer, soil additives and animal bedding. Summit found that critical mass in the Kennebec County town of Clinton, where five farms contribute 17% of Maine's overall dairy production. e dairy partnership is new for Summit, says CEO Kurt Adams. "Clinton is a dairy cluster and there's a lot of infrastructure," he says. Summit expects the digester will be operational by early 2021. e digester, which uses anaerobic bacteria to break down manure, will be on the Flood Brothers farm. A pipe will run from there to Summit's existing natural gas system, near the farm. Tilton-Flood views the project as a win, with valuable byproducts for the farms and a role in addressing climate change. "is project is something we farm- ers would love to do but can't, because there's not enough time and it's a lot of money," she says. "Exeter Agri-Energy broke ground with research and devel- opment, not to mention permitting and convincing people this works. e more that people do this, the more normal it will seem." Challenges and opportunities e project is an opportunity in an industry that faces numerous challenges, from pricing beyond farmers' control, to rising costs and weather vagaries. Maine's dairy farm industry is comprised of 231 dairy farms. Most are family-owned and, generally, break-even operations. Rising production costs, coupled with volatile milk prices, make it challenging to balance the books. Farmers have improved efficiency, but there's an ongoing need to find new income streams from value- added products. "ere are several challenges we face as dairy farmers," says Ben Taylor, co-owner of Taylor Dairy Farm in St. Alban's. "During cropping, our schedules are completely dictated by the weather. Because we work with animals, and they never take a day off, there is always work to be done with them every day of the year. We also can receive emergency calls anytime around the clock." In addition, Taylor says, farmers have no control of the price of the product they sell "and, unlike some other indus- tries, we don't have the ability to close our doors during times of low prices because the cows need to be milked and fed every day." Julie-Marie Bickford, executive director of the Maine Dairy Industry Association, cites rising costs for things like utilities, equipment, trans- portation and feed, plus labor short- ages, as primary challenges. Labor costs are also rising. "You need to pay more to find the person to show up and milk the cows at 2 a.m.," says Bickford. "Plus, farming today is highly technical," with farmers grappling with food-safety, technology, animal husbandry and strict regulations getting milk from udder to jug. With labor demands that go beyond what entry-level workers can offer, more farms now offer health insurance, on- site housing and higher salaries. » C O N T I N U E D F RO M P R E V I O U S PA G E Maine has 231 dairy farms with 30,000 cows making 71,000,000 gallons of milk Dairy farmers manage 700,000 acres of open space. Farms range in size from eight to 1,800 cows 99% of the farms are family-owned and operated Average price paid by Maine consumer Maine retail minimum price Minimum price paid to Maine processor Maine farmer breakeven cost of production Minimum price paid to farmer $4.14 $3.73 $3.35 $1.80 $1.48 How does milk pricing work? P rices paid to dairy farmers are outside their con- trol. Pricing is based on complicated formulae related to commodity markets and manufacturing processes, and vary according to class of goods. For example, milk going to a bottling plant is Class I, a perishable product that receives a higher price; milk processed for cheese is Class III, a longer-lasting product receiving a lower price. To prevent farmers from sending all their milk to plants for the higher Class I price, all milk within cer- tain regions is "pooled" and each farmer receives an averaged price. So farmers in a dominant Class I milk area, like Maine, are paid less that the Class I value. But farm- ers in a dominant Class III cheese area, like Vermont, are paid at a higher rate than the Class III value. Plus, prices vary wildly in any given time period. Farmers' ability to keep the books balanced is further complicated because they don't know what they'll be paid until weeks after the milk has been shipped. By then, farmers have moved on to the next batch. So when prices fall, farmers are often caught out, scrambling to cover farm costs. The state of Maine designed a stabilization program to insulate farmers from low prices. But since 2012, prices haven't kept pace with costs like feed and fuel. S O U R C E : Maine Dairy Industry Association/Maine Milk Commission MILK MONEY (OCTOBER 2018 PRICES) MILK BY THE NUMBERS People see what happens when a mill shuts down and 400 people aren't punching a clock. We know it hurts the sandwich shop and the retail store. But people don't think about when a dairy farm, tucked up in the back woods, is no longer shipping milk. People don't understand the domino effect that causes. — Jenni Tilton-Flood Flood Brothers Farm There are more than 150 processors. 4 package drinking milk, 5 make cheese or butter for mass distribution, 25 make ice cream or gelato and the rest make specialty value-added products $570,000,000 Maine dairy industry's annual economic impact

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