April 26, 2024
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Dairy Farmers Are Lobbying for More Money
Florida's dairy farmers are losing an average of more than $700,000 a year. It's a $99-million problem statewide.
Amy Keller | 12/1/2009
It Does a Lobby Good
Suggestions from a Senate Agriculture Committee report — requested at the behest of the dairy industry — on ways that the state could help the industry and the environment at the same time:
» Create a funding source for Florida dairy farmers to pay for the design and implementation of environmental technologies to collect dairy solids and biofuels. “This would capture a large amount of nutrients of concern and capture methane to develop green fuel and promote independence from foreign fuel sources,” according to the report.
» Fund the construction of waste-to-energy systems at dairy farms in Okeechobee and Suwannee counties that could generate electricity for nearby state prisons.
» Create incentives for the use of organic fertilizers to improve market demand for manure compost so more dairy farmers would be inclined to invest the capital.
