Dairy

In hopes of addressing the decline of the dairy farming industry in Maryland, lawmakers plan to propose legislation in the upcoming session of the General Assembly aimed at bringing relief to beleaguered farmers. One measure under consideration would create a Maryland Dairy Emergency Fund, similar to those adopted in other East Coast states that have confronted difficulties with their dairy industries. The fund would subsidize the income of farmers during years of low milk prices. Such a fund was a primary recommendation of the governor's Dairy Industry Advisory and Oversight Council.

Maryland officials looking for ways to save the state's dairy industry need only cast an eye on Pennsylvania and several other East Coast states for guidance. Measures taken in other states include tax credits for farmers; the setting of a minimum price that farmers are paid for their milk; and subsidies to farmers. Officials say such programs are good for business because farming makes significant contributions to those states' economies. Moreover, officials say, the programs help the states meet consumer demand for an adequate supply of locally produced milk and preserve rural land.

NEW MARKET-- For 32 years, Jeff England awoke each day at 3:30 a.m. The dairy farmer trudged in the dark across the gravel lane separating his red brick Civil War-era home from the cinderblock milking parlor about 150 feet away. He made the trek almost every day since he was 17 - seven days a weeks, at times in bitter cold, deep snow or heavy rain. It was time to milk the cows. But not anymore. England, a 49-year-old farmer whose peers view him as one of the most efficient dairymen in Maryland, has sold his cows.

Hazel V. Sparks, a Harford County dairy farmer and real estate developer, died Wednesday of complications from a stroke at St. Joseph Medical Center. She was 89. Along with her husband, Mrs. Sparks ran their family dairy farm for more than 35 years. She also worked as a real estate broker and developed 100 acres of the family's land to build the High Point Estates subdivision in Forest Hill. Mrs. Sparks was born Hazel V. Waddell in Ceres, a small town in the Appalachian Mountains of southwest Virginia.

In an industry that is the essence of routine, David and Kate Dallam are undergoing a radical lifestyle change. After 16 years of adhering to a rigid milking schedule on their Harford County dairy farm, the Dallams no longer must rise at dawn with the cows. They can go out to dinner or catch one of their children's ballgames without rushing home. David Dallam can spend more time in the fields, and Kate can tend their ice cream store. After all, the robot minds the herd. The Dallams, who run Brooms Bloom Dairy, a 240-acre farm in Creswell, recently installed a $180,000 computerized system that milks the cows, tracks yield data -- even keeps the cows calm.

Add milk to the list of products that consumers are paying more for this summer as analysts predict that prices will reach record highs during the next few months - fallout from the rising price of oil. The rising prices are pressuring profits at several companies that sell dairy products, including pizza, yogurt and ice cream makers. Domino's Pizza Inc., for example, said it could be forced to raise its prices due in part to higher cheese costs. Nationally, the average cost of a gallon of whole milk rose 19 cents during the past two months, to $3.26 in May, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Anne Arundel County will seek to convert the former Naval Academy Dairy Farm into a community garden and botanical garden after its bid for the prized 857 acres won initial approval yesterday. The county will begin exclusive lease negotiations with the Navy on June 25, said Navy spokesman John S. Verrico. If a final agreement is reached, the county will solicit ideas from the public on the future of the Gambrills farm. County Executive John R. Leopold, whose interest in the site earlier this year helped drive out a proposal for a state-run horse park, pledged yesterday that the site will retain its rural identity.

Kim Karas was torn, really. The Harford County resident faced the choice yesterday between $18,750 or a 2-ton fiberglass cow that easily would be the neighborhood's biggest lawn ornament. Maybe it seemed like a no-brainer. But her children - Steven, 10, and Daphne, 7 - were lobbying her hard to take the 13-foot-high, 25-foot-long piece of oversized kitsch. "Mom, take the cow, please," Steven said. "It would be neat in the backyard. I would scrub it once a week to keep it clean." At the least, the family could choose the cow and see how much it would fetch in today's community yard sale, Steven said.

Dairy farmer Donald Dell opened the lid of his 2,000-gallon milk tank, peering at the creamy white liquid inside. The tank is kept full by tubes that run to the nearby pumping station, where his 150 Holstein cows come to be milked. The Dells drink nothing but raw, unprocessed milk, straight from the tank. The family thinks that consumers should have the right to buy and drink nonpasteurized milk, too, and that the idea could help revive the state's ailing dairy industry, which has lost half of its milk producers in the last 15 years.