The Geography of Milk and Future of Dairy Farming in the Upper Valley
Tuesday, February 4, 2020 — ‘Lots of us consume milk,” says Upper Valley Land Trust President Jeanie McIntyre, “and the contributions that local dairy farms make to our communities, our economy, and our landscape are really significant.” But except for niche and artisan products, dairy farmers have mostly been overlooked in the enthusiasm for local foods. UVLT wanted to examine whether there was more it could do to recognize the contributions of local commodity producers who supply the milk that’s on grocery store shelves.
A research project, supported by UVLT and Dartmouth College, was born.
Throughout the past year, Janice Chen, Dartmouth College’s ’82 Upper Valley Community Impact Fellow, learned about dairy farming. What started off as a seemingly basic question – where is all the milk produced in the Upper Valley going- turned into a large scale mapping and policy project for the Dartmouth Senior. “I was immediately drawn to the challenge of understanding an interwoven and convoluted food system, especially as it related to communities in the Upper Valley” said Chen. She soon learned that the question posed was not simple at all, “the dairy industry can be considered from an almost infinite set of perspectives, from the historical development of specialized milk production to the contemporary economic consequences of an industry in crisis. It’s fascinating to think about how these different forces coalesce into this landscape we are so familiar with.”
Janice worked closely with the Upper Valley Land Trust to speak with farmers and map farm land throughout the 45 towns of the land trust’s service area. From the Upper Valley’s largest dairies in Bradford to smaller farms throughout the region, Janice visited farms, spoke with farmers, and learned about the industry. “This project has animated the Upper Valley landscape. A year ago, I would look at a hay field on the side of what is otherwise a densely forested hill, and think, “Wow, what a beautiful natural meadow.” I think the dairy landscape—especially a small-scale dairy landscape—goes unnoticed to people working outside agriculture.”
From there Janice traced the path of milk, from processors to vendors. Her findings are surprising to those of us who are not a part of the dairy industry. When asked what her biggest take away from her project was Janice said, “We need to think about our food systems on the structural level. While local consumer choices matter to an extent, we need to be aware of how decisions made far away—farm bills, milk pricing policies, etc.—play an integral role in shaping our landscape and the future of food production in this region. This isn’t to say that local change is impossible, but rather that we need to consider how to make our regional food system less susceptible to the vagaries of political or market changes.”
Janice will be presenting her research on February 11th at 6pm at Dartmouth College in the Carson Building, Room 060. Her research will be followed by a panel discussion with local policy experts and dairy farmers who will answer questions and discuss the future of the dairy industry in the Upper Valley. For Janice’s part, she says, “The trends certainly suggest that small-scale dairy farming will progressively lose its hold in the Upper Valley. The economic conditions of agriculture right now point to similar results, but I would hesitate to entirely spell out the demise of dairy farming in the Upper Valley. I think we also need to ask: what do we want of our working landscape? Is it crucial that we keep it in dairy or in food production at all? Pinning down what is important to us, and why we hold certain hopes for our landscape and food systems will help us think more critically about what will make a sustainable future for this region. “
Janice’s research presentation and panel discussion are being hosted by the Upper Valley Land Trust with generous support from the Dartmouth Center for Social Impact.
(All photos provided by Janice Chen)